This Valentine’s Day is a special one for Kaye. It’s her first time experiencing Valentine’s Day at school with her friends. She’ll find out what it’s like to exchange cute Valentines with her classmates. So I wanted to make a special one for her to hand out next Tuesday. I had extra bubbles from Elle’s birthday party so I created a Valentine’s Day card using the bubbles. I found these bubbles at Target, a pack of 12 for $2. But you can find these also in the wedding sections at craft stores.

You know me… totally simple but cute. So print it out and use it for your child’s Valentine’s. It is best if printed on thick (100 pound) card stock paper. And white card stock is the best since the font is really thin and the colors are light.

If you make something inspired by Simply Modern Mom, please upload pictures of it to our Flickr group to show it off to everyone. You may be featured on Simply Modern Mom.

To make this card just like mine, I made a little tutorial for you…

Supplies:

• The Bubbly Valentine’s Day Card (click on link to download the PDF)
• baker’s twine or other type of string
• double-sided small adhesive squares
• small hole punch
• tags (optional)

1. Once you download the card, cut on the lines to create 4 cards from one sheet.

2. Place the bubble on the card’s white space (left side) to get a feel for where you need to punch holes. Punch two holes for the strings to go through.

3. Place the double-sided adhesive squares in the middle of the holes punched in step 2. And stick the bubble to it.

4. Tie the tag to the bubble (optional) using baker’s twine.

5. String baker’s twine through the holes and tie a bow to keep the bubble in place. And done!

» Tell me… What is your favorite Valentine’s Day candy to receive?

This project was a blast from the past. When I was a little girl in elementary and middle school in Hawaii, my friends and I would write notes to each other and fold them in cute origami. We made these hearts often because you create them using 8 1/2 x 11-inch paper. Remembering these paper hearts, I made a bunch of them in various sizes to decorate a wall we have in our living room that was a huge empty spot.

You can make these as valentines for your kids to hand out in class to their friends with special note written in each heart. Or you can use them as decorations like I did on the wall. Make a few with cute scrapbook paper and frame it with a love quote. You really can do anything you want with it.

This tutorial may seem long but it really is just a lot of pictures. I wanted to make sure you see what I am talking about in the directions. If you make something inspired by Simply Modern Mom, please upload pictures of it to our Flickr group to show it off to everyone. You may be featured on Simply Modern Mom.

Supplies:

• 8 1/2 x 11-inch paper

1. Write your note and have the writing face up. Taking one of the top corner, fold the paper into a triangle as shown below. Unfold, then do the same to the other top corner (see second picture below).

2. Fold the bottom part of the paper so the bottom edge meets the bottom part of the triangle (see first picture below). Then again so the folded edge at the bottom meets the bottom part of the triangle (see second picture below).

3. Keep the bottom fold from step 2 pressed down. Unfold the top triangle portion. There should be a large X fold. Pull in the two sides but creasing at the X fold lines made by the triangles in step 1.

4. Take the two corners of the top layer from the triangle fold to the top point of the triangle and crease.

5. Take the two sides of the paper and fold toward the center.

6. Turn the paper over then fold down the top layer of the triangle.

7. Take the bottom corner of the paper and fold toward the center forming a triangle. This creates the bottom point of the heart.

8. Open the pocket formed by the top layer triangle folded down and tuck the folded corner from step 7 into the pocket. Repeat steps 7 and 8 for the other bottom corner.

9. Still on the back side of the origami, take one of the top corners and fold down at an angle. This creates the top part of the heart. Then tuck the tip of the corner into the same pocket in step 8. Repeat this step for the second top corner. And done!

That’s it. I know the writing directions can be a little confusing but hopefully all the pictures will help you understand what I am talking about. Let me know if you have any questions. It’s also fun to do with colorful papers too. Have fun folding origami hearts!

» Tell me… Did you write notes to your friends in elementary/middle/high school? Did you make it all cute?

January 21. After going to Chinese New Year Festival with my parents we went home and did our Saturday chores. That evening, I missed a phone call from my mom. Then a few minutes later received a text from my dad, “Agong passed away today.” My parents were at a party with friends when my mom received a phone call from Taiwan. Her father, my grandfather, passed away that morning. He was 100 years old. The picture above is me with Agong (grandfather in Taiwanese) when I was a little girl. Tears.

This was the first time for me losing a grandparent. The last time I saw him was three years ago when Nathan, Kaye and I flew to Taiwan to visit my family there. All of my mom’s family are still living there. My mom goes back to Taiwan every year for 2-3 months to visit family and help her aging parents. She had just gotten back mid-December and now she is gone again to help my grandma with funeral arrangements and getting her set up for her new life as a widow.

I like to think I was his favorite grandchild. When I was a little girl living in Taiwan, my grandparents would take care of me while my mom worked. My grandpa would pick me up from school each day and we would walk home together. And at night, he would sing me songs to sleep. He lived an amazing life and I am grateful for the memories I have with him.

» Tell me… What is your favorite memory with your grandparents?

There are a few things in life I actually hate and meal planning is one of them. I never know what to make for dinner. I feel like we eat the same things every week. Like the taco soup recipe I have pictured above. And Nathan is no help. He is the kind of guy that will eat whatever is placed in front of him. He doesn’t like to plan meals either. So if you are like me, here are a few methods to help make your life a little easier when it comes around to dinner time…

• Weekly/monthly calendar. I have been doing the weekly meal planning for years. The down fall of that is if I don’t get my act together on Sunday or Monday, I don’t get the week planned and have no idea what to make the rest of the week. Then my friend told me how she started planning her meals a month at a time. I’m trying that now. So far not too bad.
• Cozi meal planner. I use Cozi for my calendaring and was excited when they added the meal planner. You can plan your meals, drag recipes into the calendar that will store and save it for you. And it has a shopping list where you can figure out which groceries you need for the meals each week. Super cool.
• Pick a theme. You can pick a theme for each day of the week – breakfast Wednesdays, Sunday leftovers, kids’ choice Fridays, crockpot Mondays and the likes. The only thing we consistently do on a weekly basis is breakfast for dinner. We all love it.
• Meal swaps. This is a great way to mix food with friends. Switch off cooking for each other and that way rather than going out and spending money, you eat at each other’s home once a week for free. And it’s a great way to try out each other’s recipes. It is also a great way to get my children to try new foods when they see their friends eating it too.
• Purchase a meal planner. I have never done this before but I’ve seen deals for purchasing meal planning programs. They provide the meal, recipes and give you a list of groceries to buy. Since I have never tried this before, I am not recommending any particular meal planning companies.

» Tell me… How do you plan your meals? Which method has worked for you? Why?

My intentions were to make strawberry cake pops for Elle’s pink birthday party guests to take home in their goody bags. Well, come Friday night before the party and these cake pops didn’t turn out so hot. Here’s the problem. Moist cake. Don’t use them to make cake pops. Lesson learned.

» Tell me… What was your worst bake fail story?

You know I’ve been in a crocheting mood lately. So it’s no surprise that I would make a decoration by crocheting. I came up with this pattern for a crochet heart garland for the fireplace. It was rather simple to make. And the possibilities of what to do with crochet hearts are endless.

This year I am actually decorating for Valentine’s Day. It always sneak up after the holidays. So I have a few other things I am working on for Valentine’s Day this year.

» Tell me… Are you interested in a pattern for this garland?

As previously mentioned, I was looking for a place to do her birthday party outside of our home. And since it is January, it was best to have it indoors with unpredictable weather. We had it at Chick-Fil-A, her favorite place to eat. This was also the first time I planned a party outside of our home. It was so nice. I showed up and everything was decorated and ready to go. All I had to do was the birthday cake. Although I did make a few extra things to make the party a little more personal. Yet the best part was I didn’t have to clean up before or after the party. Nice.

Going with the pink theme, I made Elle’s birthday cake a pink strawberry cake with pink strawberry frosting. It was a triple layered cake and I sprinkled clear sugar crystals on top. Then I made a bunting garland to go on top of the cake.

Then I made extra strawberry cupcakes because I wasn’t sure if the strawberry cake was large enough to feed all the guests and their parents. So I whipped up these cupcakes with white frosting and then sprinkled clear sugar crystals and pink sugar pearls.

I also made name place cards for each of the birthday guests. I wrote out each child’s name in fancy lettering and added a little flower to it. We did have two boys come to the party and they were such good sports about being at a pink party.

And although the restaurant provided the goody bag for each child, I wanted to add a little something extra with a tag that said “Thanks for coming to my party.” Originally I had wanted to make cake pops. That didn’t turn out at all. So I resorted to bubbles which worked out perfectly.

The party went perfectly. We had 14 children ages 3 to 5 at her party. The party started with a little craft provided by Chick-Fil-A where they colored a long strip of paper that went in a straw cup. Then as the children were waiting for their food to be served, I brought another craft to keep the children occupied. I brought foam crowns and glasses for them to decorate with stickered foam shapes and letters. When it was time to eat, the children were so quite devouring their chicken nuggets and french fries.

After dinner, the restaurant mascot, came out and greeted the children. This one was a girl cow named Daisy. Some of the children were afraid and wouldn’t get near the cow. Others gladly sat on her lap. Once the cow left, it was cake and ice cream then open presents. Everyone was gone shortly after that. The party lasted two hours and we all went home happy.

I love this girl to pieces. She is so much fun and just had a blast celebrating her birthday with her friends. And it was so nice to not have to do everything. All I did was the small details that made the party just a little more personal. I can’t even express how amazing it was to come home from her party to a clean house.

» Tell me… How do you keep parties/play dates under control at your house with a group of little ones?

I am recovering from a weekend of celebrating Elle’s birthday with a large group of 3- to 5-year-olds. Here’s a sneak peak of the cake. More coming soon. I am also working on a few Valentine’s Day stuff that I hope to post soon too. So forgive me as I take a day to recuperate. I hope you had a fabulous weekend and did something fun. We’ll talk soon.

Every year I make birthday cakes for all birthday occasions. I have never bought a birthday cake from the store before. However, just because I made the cakes doesn’t mean they have all been from scratch. Nope. Some of them were boxed cake mix ones. And I am not a professional cake decorator. Not at all. I do enjoy seeing pretty cake and at my very basic and amateur level I try to make my cakes or cupcakes pretty. Some fun ones I have made was the ice cream castle cake and the ice cream cone cupcakes. Um. Just realized both cakes had to do with ice cream. Huh. I love ice cream.

Anyway, even at my amateur level there are a few cake decorating tools that everyone must have on hand…

1. Cake decorating tips and coupler. I have various types of tips and sizes too. The coupler are the white rings that attaches the tip to the bag. My favorite tip to use is the round circle ones.
2. Decorating Bags. I used to just put frosting in a ziplock bag and cut off one of the bottom corners. Then I thought I would give these decorative bags a try since they go with the decorative tips. Ah-mazing. The trick to filling these bags is after attaching the tip, place the bag (tip down) in a tall glass and the opening of the bag folded over the top of the glass. Fill with frosting then twist to close.
3. Cake knife spatula. I bought this one because it was a combo spatula and a knife. I use the knife part to cut layers of my cake flat. Then the spatula side to even and level the frosting.
4. Silicone spatulas and spoonulas. Great for frosting cupcakes or cakes. And also used for scraping the side of bowls to use all the batter.
5. Cute cupcake liners. I always have printed and plain white cupcake liners on hand. It just brings a personal touch to the cupcakes.

» Tell me… Which cake decorating tools are a must have for you?

I love a good produce section at the grocery store. I’m a produce snob. I willingly pay extra for beautiful, fresh produce than shop at a cheap grocery store with a produce section that looks too ripe, wilted or old. Last weekend before heading to the Chinese New Year festival, my mom and I stopped at an international farmer’s market for some fruits and veggies. They have the best produce section I have ever seen with amazing prices.

I stocked up on persimmons at $0.99 per pound! Oh how I love persimmons. I also got lots of cherries, avocados, taro, papaya, blueberries and a few Asian snack goodies. And I walked out of there spending only $38. What a steal.

» Tell me… Are you a produce snob like me? Are you very particular about your fruits and vegetables?

Kaye had her 100th day of school last Friday. What?! How can she be more than halfway through kindergarten already?! Breathe. Breathe. Her school had a big day celebrating the 100th day of school. In fact, she came home saying she didn’t learn anything that day at school. Just had so much fun.

For the 100th day of school, they were to wear 100 of something. I found a pack of adhesive googly eyes in various sizes. So I purchased it and stuck it onto a shirt. But I thought I would make it a little creative by turning it into a monster. I used a black fabric marker and drew the face, mouth and antenna of the monster on her shirt. Kaye was so excited to wear it to school. And the googly eyes jingled every time she walked. Bet that was fun during P.E. This can also be an easy idea for a monster party.

» Tell me… Does your child’s school have lots of parties and celebrations? Will they do something for the 100th day of school?

I decided this year I would start a new birthday tradition for the girls. Two weeks before their birthday, I would make a countdown chart for them. And for each day they countdown to their birthday, they get something special or get to do something special.

Elle’s birthday is coming up and I actually started her chart a little late, so rather than 14 days of special things, she got 12. Still, she was super excited each day to see what she got to do that day. It is mostly simple things and below are some ideas on what to put in their countdown calendar. And as they get older, you can change things to be more fitting for their age.

I created a simple printable of this birthday countdown for you to download. It is a two week countdown with blank lines for you to fill. And then get small sticky notes, write the numbers on each one and then cover the surprise. Simple as that. Click below to download the PDF.

Birthday Countdown PDF

• Stay up an hour past bed time.
• Finger paint.
• Put coins in your piggy bank.
• Go out to eat dinner.
• Get a candy treat.
• Play the princess game with dad.
• Go to the library for story time.
• Play on the iPad.
• Watch a movie.
• Play a board game.
• Invite a friend over to play.

» Tell me… What are some birthday traditions you have with your children?

Xin nian kuai le! Happy Chinese New Year! We celebrated Chinese New Year last Saturday at New Year Festival in China Town. Although the weather was horrific with tornado warning, flash flood and thunder storms, we still packed the family in the minivan and headed to the festival. The girls wanted to see the dragon dance and I wanted to engorge myself in delicious authentic Chinese food. All the yummy stuff I remember from my childhood.

We weren’t the only ones who braved the weather conditions to celebrate. The place was packed full of people.

I ate sticky rice, Chinese fried chicken, shrimp rice noodles, taro and custard filled cakes and shaved ice with fresh fruit. The girls loved the fried rice, egg rolls and seasoned eggs. Nathan had a plate full of Chinese BBQ and bubble tea drink. If you like Chinese food, you would have been in heaven here.

» Tell me… What is your favorite Chinese dish? What are you doing to celebrate Chinese New Year today?

Five jobs I have had…

1. Pharmacy technician. I worked in the pharmacy in high school as a clerk then worked my way up to technician where I filled and processed prescriptions. I liked that the job was challenging and helpful to people. I disliked dealing with mean, grumpy sick people.
2. Custom framing. I loved this job. I worked custom framing in college. Built frames, cut mats and glass then put them all together. It was creative work that I enjoyed. I liked that I got to work with some amazing artworks. I disliked people picking out frames or mat colors that didn’t go well with the artwork. Detracted from the beautiful art.
3. Nanny. I was a nanny for a family with three children on Long Island, New York. I did this the summer after I graduated from high school and the summer after my freshman year of college. I liked the other nannies I met in NY, some I still keep in touch with. I disliked that the family I was working for hired a nanny even though the mom didn’t work. She spent her days shopping, watching TV or pampering herself and had me take care of her children.
4. Newspaper journalist and editor. I had this job during college. My major in college was communications with emphasis in journalism. So it was nice having a job that gave me field experience. I liked the opportunity to interview some of the most interesting people. I truly believe everyone has a story to tell. I disliked the constant deadlines.
5. Photographer’s assistant. I had this job in high school. I worked with a photographer doing mostly weddings. I liked learning more about photography. I disliked hanging out at wedding parties not knowing anyone but the photographer. It was a little awkward.

» Tell me… What is your most unusual job you have had? Or which job from your past did you enjoy working the most?

Look who grew teeth. Our girls get their teeth early as babies. Kaye and Elle both had their first tooth cut through at 3 1/2-month-old. Eve is a little late bloomer with teeth at 4 1/2 months but the two came through in the same week. And guess who bit me while nursing. Yeah. The downfall of teething. This little girl just melts my heart. I could just spend an entire day kissing her cheeks and snuggling with her.

» Tell me… When did your children start to get teeth?

Hopping around the internet today you might have noticed some sites have been “blacked out”. What is going on? Well, I don’t know if you have been following the techie news, but Congress has a bill they are to vote on later this month that will affect your day-to-day internet use. I asked Nathan to write a post about it because he is the expert on all things techie. This is a huge deal and I have contacted my Congressmen concerning this issue. And you should too. Take a stand for your freedom. Please read on…

Today, January 18th is the official internet blackout day in protest of the PIPA and SOPA bills set before the US Congress. Why is everyone up in arms about these bills and how does it affect you as a modern mom?

What is PIPA & SOPA?
The Protect IP Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) bills are an attempt to stop the illegal copying of movies, music and other copyrighted content. Sounds good, right? Stop people from stealing other’s content. However the devil is in the details and vague legal terms in both bills essentially give large corporations the keys to censorship on the internet and place the burden of enforcing content infringement on companies hosting user content.

How Does This Affect You?
Here’s an example… A user posts a link in the comments of Simply Modern Mom to a filesharing site with some infringing content. Simply Modern Mom is responsible and could be sued for hosting that link. A court order could also have the website blocked while the case it goes through the legal system for months and months. Think about that for a moment. You wouldn’t have access to one of your favorite blogs for months because of a single link in the comments. Now apply that to Facebook, Youtube, Vimeo, Wikipedia, Twitter, etc. The impact these bills will have on the freedom of the internet can not be understated. They allow content censorship rights to be given to large corporations to wield as they want, which if the past is any indication, is bad news for business, competition and consumers.

Video Explanation
I’ve embedded a video which does a great job of explaining what PIPA (and other similar bills) would do to the internet if it is allowed to pass. Please watch and share.

Take Action
I hope that you will stand up with the millions of others and let your voice be heard that you oppose any legislation that censors the internet and restricts our freedom of speech. These bills are aren’t the first and will not be the last. Be vigilant in protecting your freedoms. Please contact your congressman and sign the petition opposing PIPA and SOPA.

More Info
Wikipedia
Google
CBS News
NY Times

We have been through a lot lately in the Bird household. On top of the normal craziness of holidays and then the mice incident and all three girls getting RSV, I felt the need to have the house completely cleaned and sanitized. Nathan and I had done quite a bit of cleaning and sanitizing  as the mice and RSV and holiday stuff was happening. But it was time for a deep clean.

We had never done this before, but we hired professional cleaners to come do a complete deep clean of our house. Then this past Monday we had our carpets cleaned, also by a hired professional. We have had our carpets cleaned before. But this time we waited until we were through potty training Elle. I’m sure you can understand why.

Prior to having my house professionally cleaned, I often wondered about other moms… How do they keep their house so clean and still have time to do everything else that they do? Cleaning the house seemed like an endless cycle. Doing a little at a time but by the time you finished cleaning the last room, the first room is dirty again. And with little children, they are often undoing all my cleaning as I am cleaning.

We live in a modest size home. Nothing fancy or big. A simple three bedroom house. I have friends who have much larger homes than mine and they seem to keep that clean and able to volunteer here and do this and that and have time to craft. Then a friend chimed me in on a secret. Larger homes can be easier to keep clean because there is more room for things. Everything has a place. And you can contain children and their messes in a dedicated room rather than in the family living space.

The week prior to having the cleaners come do our house, Nathan and I worked really hard to put everything back where it belonged. Found places for things that didn’t have a spot in our home. And then got rid of things that shouldn’t have a place in our home. And after the cleaners came Nathan and I found of selves with free time. This has never happened to us before, the entire house was completely cleaned. We didn’t know what to do with ourselves. For the first time ever, there was nothing to clean or put away in our home. Um, OK. That was a new feeling. We actually had time to tackle other things on our to do list. That was nice.

» Tell me… How do you keep your house clean with children dwelling in it? Have you ever hired professionals to clean your house before?

Some of you noticed that things on Simply Modern Mom were not “pin-able”. It took months of figuring out and my site tech (aka Nathan) got it fixed. So… I have been receiving emails and comments from you saying you wanted to pin things on SMM but couldn’t. Now you can! Take a moment, check out the Tutorials, Made, Lists, Tips and Recipes pages at the top and pin to your hearts content. Please.

And if you are not following Simply Modern Mom on Pinterest, you can do so easily here. If you are not on Pinterest and would like an invite, let me know in the comments or email me. All I need is your email address.

Lastly, on a side note, next week I will be featuring some of your work and creativity. If you have made something from my tutorials or made section above, please email photos of it to me or upload it onto the Simply Modern Mom Flickr group. You could be featured!

» Tell me… Are you a Pinterest addict like me? And another thing, did you know that there’s a Pinterest code of conduct on how to pin correctly?

That was the view the other morning and I just had to capture it. It was breath taking. I’m taking the day off today to spend with my family. It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Nathan has the day off. I think I might hit up some thrift stores with my mom. Hopefully I find something good to show you soon. I hope you have a wonderful day and take time to enjoy the beauty around you. Be back tomorrow!

» Tell me… Are you awake early enough to see the sunrise?

I’ve been looking around for places to have Elle’s 3rd birthday party. Wow. I realized there is no end to how much you can spend on a child’s birthday party. If you are looking for a place to have your kid’s party outside of your home, here are some ideas.

1. Local businesses. Know some favorite places around town? If not, drive around and see what is available. Many local businesses such as bookstores, restaurants, dance studios, gymnastic studios and such would love to host birthday parties.
2. Restaurants. There’s fast food, midrange and fancy restaurants that does parties. Some restaurants have party packages and other places just allows you to host a party there. Make sure you call and let them know a group is coming if you don’t purchase a party package.
3. Parks. Many playgrounds and parks have picnic tables and rent out spaces for parties. This doesn’t usually prevent other children from playing at the park at the time of your party, but it does reserve a space for the food.
4. Kid-friendly play locations. Bounce houses, moon walks, amusement parks, pools.
5. Museums. Children loves museums, aquariums and botanical gardens. It is also a great way for them to learn. And if you had membership to a museum, lot of times they give you a discount on parties.

» Tell me… Where do you like to have your children’s birthday parties?

This week I reorganized my craft closet. I dream of one day having a craft room/studio to myself. But not while we live in this house. So I claimed this closet space under the stairs as my craft closet. It gets messy quickly. Without a room of my own, whenever I am not done with a project, I either leave it out in the living room or toss it in the closet to get it out of the way. I decided to go through and organize all my craft supplies in clear plastic bins. Ah. I feel so much better.

» Tell me… Where do you keep your craft supplies? How do you keep them organized?

I totally believe children have this uncontrollable desire to cut hair. It can be their own hair, sibling’s hair or someone else’s hair. I don’t get it, but apparently it’s the fun thing to do. Kaye has cut her hair before. Elle has too. Previously, it was just little snips here and there. Nothing major.

That was until this past Monday. I have been letting the girls grow their hair long in preparation for their dance recital coming up in May. They need to be able to put their hair up for the recital. Recently, Elle had been complaining that her hair is too long and it needed to be cut. Also making references to Rapunzel cutting her hair. I tried to get those ideas out of her head by telling her she needed to have long hair for dance class.

Well, on Monday Elle got out during her quiet time and went into our room. She found a pair of kid scissors I had left in our room. I didn’t see how she did it because I was downstairs while she was upstairs. But Kaye was there to witness the tragedy. Elle cut of chunks of her hair at the top of her head. Then attempted to cut Kaye’s hair. And Kaye didn’t say anything or do anything. What?!

Elle came downstairs and I saw short stubs on the top of her head. I quickly realized what happened. For the rest of the day chunks of hair just kept falling out. It made me so mad. I had a talk with Elle about never cutting her own hair. Then I had a talk with Kaye about not letting other people touch or cut her hair (other than mom or a trained professional).

And yeah. The next day I tried putting Elle’s hair up to cover the short stubs on top of her head and it didn’t work. Those short hair are up for good… at least until they grow out. Sad.

» Tell me… Have you had the joy of experiencing your child cutting his/her own hair? Or some other kid cut your child’s hair? Please share. 

Sorry if you don’t crochet and you are tired of my overload of crochet posts lately. Can you tell I have been on a crocheting mood lately? I promise I will move on from crocheting soon. I have other projects. I just made this one as a gift. My cousin and his wife are expecting their third child. Their older two girls are the same age as my two older girls. And this, being their third, is going to be a boy. How exciting, right?

Well, for just before Christmas, my cousin showed me these beard hats he found on Etsy and thought was the coolest thing. Then on Christmas day, he showed up to our family gathering wearing a beard hat. His parents ordered one for him for Christmas. So I thought it would be cute to make a beard hat for their baby boy who is expected to arrive in a few weeks. Matching beard hats. Cute or freaky?

And since I don’t have any boys of my own to model the beard hats for me, I used my girls. I purchased the pattern from this Etsy shop. I have purchased several other hat patterns from Dusty because she has such cute hat designs.

» Tell me… What do you think of the beard hat? Is it too weird or hilarious?

Nathan had some time off after Christmas so we decided to go on a mini vacation. None of us had been to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, before so we thought that was a good place. It was just a quick two day trip for us to get out of the house and see something new.

Unfortunately, all three kids were sick with a cold during this trip. So we didn’t get to see or do as much as we had wanted to. But that’s life with kids right? The great thing was we had absolutely no plans when we were there. We were able to just go with the flow and do what we could with three sick kids.

The first day we were there it rained all day. Luckily, the hotel we stayed in had an indoor saltwater pool. So the two older girls went swimming with Nathan while I stayed in the room with baby. We both napped. We also did a little shopping at the outlet mall in Pigeon Forge. It was after Christmas and they were having lots of after Christmas sales. Although later we realized that the sales tax there was 9.75 percent. So we weren’t saving as much as we had thought.

That evening it snowed in the mountains. So we headed up to the Smokey Mountain National Park. It was gorgeous. The trees were frosted in white. The girls were excited to see snow. Kaye had been asking me all December why it wasn’t snowing in Georgia. She wanted to play in the snow so bad. It was great to finally let her do that.

The girls had a snowball fight with Nathan. They made snow angels and a tiny snowman. It was quickly apparent that we are not snow people. Well, Nathan is. But the rest of us girls are not. Elle didn’t like that her clothes and shoes were getting wet. She didn’t last long in the snow.

As we headed out, Nathan made a little snowman and put him on our car to join us for a ride back to Georgia. He lasted about 30 miles before he finally flew off.

We also went on a little trail hike in the Smokey Mountains. It was cold but a gorgeous day to be outside in the sunshine. We couldn’t finish the trail because Eve was in her stroller and we couldn’t get it across a small river.

The drive home was also beautiful. It was a nice little getaway for our family. We enjoy traveling and seeing new things with our children. Some of my best memories from my childhood were the road trips I took with my parents. And I wish to do the same with my children.

» Tell me… Have you ever been to Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge before? What did you like to do there?

Elle’s  birthday is coming up. It’s hard that her birthday is shortly after Christmas and New Year because it doesn’t give me much time to plan for a party. That’s one of the main reasons why I haven’t done a big party for her yet and this will be her third birthday. Plus it’s because she is the second child. By this time I have realized that they don’t need a big party each birthday.

This year, I have been busy taking doing the holidays, helping out with Kaye’s school, taking care of sick kids and vacationing that I haven’t had much time to plan a party. I thought I would throw it out there and see if you can give me some ideas for her party. Answer these questions for me…

1. I thought about maybe doing the party somewhere other than our home like restaurant, museum, etc. But it needs to be somewhere not too expensive since we are just coming off the holidays. Any ideas of places to have a fun birthday party for Elle who will be 3?
2. How about an idea for a theme? Elle likes princesses, dress up, Buzz Lightyear and all sorts of other girly stuff. But there will be boys at the party too.
3. Guests to her party will consists of boys and girls her age or around her age. What are some exciting activities to do with them?
4. What kind of food to serve picky 3-year-olds? The party will probably be around lunch time.
5. Lastly, what about the cake? Are you are a store bought or homemade cake kind of person? What kind of cake should I make or buy?

The image above is from Kaye’s ice cream party two years ago.