Tag Archives: love

A Little LOVE for your Loves

Posted in Home Life, Kid's Corner by

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Reagan and I have been busy getting ready for Valentine’s Day by creating some sweet decorations for our home and special gifts for our friends.
How fabulous it is that my daughter has so much love in her heart; we could all learn a thing or two from this amazing toddler!
Here are our favorites for the month that’s dedicated to love. Make sure to check back Saturday to see what we’ve been working on for our friends and family!

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No Time for Flashcard’s Coffee Filter Hearts are absolutely adorable and simple enough for my marker loving toddler!

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With no shortage of wine corks in the house, these Love Bugs from No Time for Flashcard’s are a definite must make!

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The Yoda inspired Valentine from design. wash. rinse. repeat… couldn’t be any cuter for your Star Wars lovin kiddo. Added bonus- a free printable!!!

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Mom’s by Heart is offering up this fabulous and FREE printable! Who doesn’t love glow sticks?

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Reagan finds Whoopie Cushions to be hilarious; she seriously can’t get enough! the Taylor house is rocking it with these awesome Valentine’s and tops them off with a FREE printable!

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Even though this Valentine isn’t rocking a free printable, it is still super cute and perfect for a few special friends! bellaellaboutique, on etsy, created this Wheelie Cool Valentine!

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I’m loving Jacolyn Murphy’s All is Fair in Love and War Valentine’s. These would definitely be a favorite with an older crowd!

A look back at last years Valentine’s:

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We created A Little Love for our family.

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These were the Sweetest Sayings!

How simple it is to help your child show their love!

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Blueberry Muffins

Posted in What's Cookin' by

Martha has done it again! I made these delicious Blueberry Muffins that I found on her site and they are absolutely delicious! I didn’t take step by step photos, because Reagan was awake and there was just too many things happening at once. The next time around I will make a very small amount of the crumble topping. Even after generously topping all 12 muffins, I still had tons left over. You will need a had or stand mixer for this recipe, that is unless you have speedy wrists and can get the desired egg and sugar consistency without an electronic device.

REAGAN LOVED THESE MUFFINS!!

Martha’s Recipe 

Ingredients:

For The Crumb Topping
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For The Blueberry Muffins
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for tin
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large whole egg plus 2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup milk
2 cups fresh blueberries
Granulated sugar and mace, for topping (optional)

Directions

Make the crumb topping, if desired: Whisk together flour, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl. Pour in melted butter and toss with a flexible spatula until large crumbs form.

Make the muffins: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line standard 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.

With an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter and granulated sugar until fluffy.

Add eggs and vanilla; mix until well combined. Reduce speed to low; alternate adding reserved flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with flour. Gently fold in berries by hand.

Divide batter evenly among prepared cups; if desired, sprinkle generously with granulated sugar and mace. Alternatively, sprinkle crumb topping evenly over batter in each cup.

Bake until light golden on top, rotating tins halfway through, about 30 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes before turning out muffins. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This is what was left over from the crumb topping

Envelopes with Love

Posted in Kid's Corner by


Reagan took one of her paintings that she made last week off of the fridge, held it up to me and said ‘paint mama paint’. Seriously, could she get any cuter? Without hesitation we headed to the basement and grabbed the needed materials. While setting up, I noticed the white envelopes that I had pulled out the night before to mail a letter to my cousin in Canada. What better way to show a little love to our favorite out-of-towners than custom made envelopes. As usual, I allowed Reagan to go to town and be as creative as she wanted. We talked about who we were going to send each envelope to and what we would put inside. This was a fantastic way to practice the names of the ones we love:)

Materials
envelopes
paint
paint brushes
dish for paint (we used a tupperware container because they’re easy to clean)
something to protect the surface of your table (we have a cardboard mat that we use)

Project is self explanatory. Allow your child to paint the envelopes one at a time. Allow to dry for at least an hour. Use a black Sharpie marker to address the envelope. IMG_4344

Perfect Morning

Posted in Kid's Corner by

Bundle up the kiddos it’s time to feed the UCKS! Check out that 55 degree temperature…Woot! Woot! Today was a cloudy Rochester day (not a shocker), but was nice enough for us to be able to spend the late morning and early afternoon outdoors with t he kids! The ‘ucks’ as Reagan calls the ducks were at the top of her to do list, so we met Erin and the boys in Schoen Place for some much-needed uck time.

Reagan feels the need to snack right along with the ucks, which is why we can never bring anything but fresh bread…those lucky little ucks.

When the bread was gone, we headed across the canal to have lunch and dance in the pavilion.  Oh to be a kid again.  These two are hysterical and love to dance to their favorites Justin and Kelis!

After a few falls, it was time to head to the library for a much-needed potty break and a little QT.  Henry gave me a long talk about how important it is for Reagan to have two gloves…his reasons included – only a few fingers being warm, her boo boo on her hand getting cold and not getting better and it looking silly. He’s such a smart kid- I felt like I was getting a lecture from my dad. (only one glove made it into the stroller from the trunk of the car)

The library is a comfortable and familiar place for both kids.  They know their boundaries and enjoy being able to have a bit of freedom to choose what they would like to do. They stuck together today…

Time flies when you’re having fun and before we knew it nap time was quickly approaching.  It was back in the stroller for Reagan and a quick walk to the car for Henry.  Holden was a trooper, like always, and slept the entire time!

How lucky are we to be able to stay home with our kids?  I am so grateful to be able to experience each new adventure with Reagan and fortunate enough to have Erin, Henry and Holden to share the adventures with as well.

The Itch

Posted in Home Life by


I’m a stay at home mom and love my job! However, there are those days that I feel the need for adult interaction – sans kiddos. That my education and all my hard work throughout my school years are going to waste. That if I had time to get a hair cut (haven’t had one since I was 8 months preggers- Reagan’s 16 months), my nails done (haven’t had a mani or a pedi since I was 2 months preggers), and get a much needed massage (not since before I was pregnant) all in the same day, the same week or even the same month…I would feel like a new woman.

It’s not a feeling that I have on a daily basis, it sneaks up on me every once in awhile. When I do actually act on the urge to get out and do something for myself- it just seems like it’s more work than it’s worth and I always want to hurry home or whenever I have left Reagan.

I will always have my fabulous friends to spend time with sans kiddos, my education can never be taken away from me; I can put it to good use whenever I see fit and beauty salons aren’t going anywhere. My daughter is numero uno and won’t be a toddler forever. I’m so fortunate to be able to spend so much time with her as she grows up…even if I do look a hot mess while doing it.

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