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Holidays

Easter Holidays Home Decor

Bunny Rabbits & Baskets

April 17, 2014

Things have been a little crazy around here lately (I’m currently recovering from having my wisdom teeth removed!), but I’ve finally gotten some Easter and Spring decorating done. I didn’t go overboard this year, but added a few things that will last through the spring.  


I think the mantle needs a cute garland for every holiday, so I made this egg garland by spray painting plastic eggs and stringing them together. And found this cute bunny at Hobby Lobby.


The buffet is displaying an adorable ceramic bunny, an egg crate, a wooden heart, and eggs of course.



I found these super sweet bunny tea light holders (from Target, I can’t find them online) and paired them with a galvanized watering can, and a floral bowl filled with eggs.

I really love the way this DIY wreath turned out. Simple and cheerful!


After putting the finishing touches on the spring decorating, I was motivated to play Easter Bunny and get Cullen’s basket ready. Is it just me, or is filling an Easter Basket for a little boy really difficult? Especially for a little boy too young for Peeps and Cadbury Creme Eggs?! But I’ve finally gotten Cullen’s basket together, and I really think he is going to love it!


I didn’t go with traditional Easter basket goodies.  Instead, I filled Cullen’s basket with things he will enjoy over the summer.  A cute sippy cup (Target), bubbles, sunglasses (Target), sidewalk chalk, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, and giant eggs filled with much needed and adorable socks. I may add some jammies like these or these. Psst…If you see Cullen before Sunday, don’t tell him what the Easter Bunny is bringing!

Are you ready for Easter? It’s almost here! I beyond excited to watch Cullen hunt eggs, especially after how much he loved dying them! 
Easter Holidays The Little Things

Easter Eggs

April 16, 2014

Last year was Cullen’s first Easter, but at only three months old, egg dying was out of the question.  So I was super excited about the opportunity to get him in on the egg dying action this year.  To be honest, I expected it to be a disaster, but as it turns out, he had blast and we made very little mess!


I decided we would attempt Kool-Aid dyed eggs, following this tutorial. I don’t know that we did everything quite right, and I would probably do a few things differently next time, but I really love how our eggs turned out.  And Cullen was thrilled with the entire process, so not much else matters.




The only supplies needed are eggs, Kool-Aid, water, and obviously something to actually dye the eggs in (we used plastic cups). When planning this, I kept picturing Cullen trying to drink the dye (he will drink anything in a cup) so I liked the idea of no icky dye or vinegar.



I mixed the Kool-Aid with the water and we got to dying. I just knew that this was going to end up with me dying all the eggs and Cullen screaming to get down and knocking everything off the table, but it turns out he was really into it and helped a lot! After seeing me put the first egg in, Cullen knew exactly what to do.  He couldn’t wait to dunk each egg into a cup of dye.



The eggs only had to sit in their Kool-Aid bath for a few minutes (it seemed much shorter than traditional egg dye) which was good for our impatient little boy.  I love the way his face lit up with excitement when he saw the dyed eggs.  He wanted to hold and ooh and aah over each one.

  

I kind of like the marbled look we ended up with, and obviously Cullen was impressed, but making sure your eggs are completely dry and rotating them in the dye more would probably help ensure a more even color.

No matter what our finished product looked like, starting this Easter tradition with Cullen will be a lasting memory.  Dying eggs has always been one of my favorite parts of Easter, and I am so glad I get to share it with Cullen for years to come!


Holidays

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

March 17, 2014
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!



Our St. Patrick’s Day festivities consist of wearing green and enjoying our traditional meal of corned beef and cabbage.  (Which I hear is not actually that Irish…but it’s super yummy, so I think we will stick with it.)  But, with a redhead with an Irish name, we may have to step up our game next year!

How are you celebrating today?


Holidays Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine’s Day

February 14, 2014

I just wanted to take a minute to stop by and wish you all a Happy Valentine’s Day!  I am so blessed that God brought this amazing man into my life! Corey is a wonderful husband and father, and I am beyond blessed that he is my Valentine forever!

Now, I’m off to enjoy the weekend with my two Valentines. How are you spending your Valentine’s Day?

DIY Holidays Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day Cards

February 12, 2014

This weekend, Cullen made some Valentine’s to send to his grandparents and close friends.  (And one for me to keep, of course!)



I painted his hand and used his hand prints to make a heart shape on white cardstock.  I then cut out the heart and put it on some kraft paper cardstock and wrote a little message from Cullen.

After the first three hand prints, Cullen was totally over the whole project, but he did really well about not getting paint everywhere.  And he thoroughly enjoyed the clean up.  Who knew washing your hands could be so much fun?!



I love how simple these were to make and how cute they ended up!  Corey and I have never really been Valentine’s Day celebrators, but having a little one has definitely made it more fun.  I am looking forward to making Valentine’s with Cullen every year…if he will let me!

























Now that these are in the mail, we are going to enjoy all the snow we are supposed to get over the next few days!

Christmas Holidays

Christmas: What Cullen Got

January 5, 2014

Now that Cullen has had a chance to play with all of his gifts from Santa, Corey, and I, I thought I should share what he got and how he likes everything.

We knew that Cullen would be getting plenty of battery operated sound noise music making toys from other family members, so we stuck with quiet, mostly wooden toys.

1.  B. Zany Zoo Wooden Activity Cube This was definitely a hit!  It was the first thing Cullen went to when we got downstairs. (It was also the only one that was not wrapped, but I’m going to ignore that fact.)  He practically pushed the other packages out of the way and started playing.  Why did I get him anything else?  He loves playing with every part of this thing and sometimes the animals on it make him laugh out loud.  He loves anything with animals. 

2. Hape Shake and Match Shape Sorter Cullen loves to play with the shapes by themselves and help put them in the sorter.  As hard as he tries, he can’t quite get the shapes in the holes yet.  But, after letting him attempt on his own, if I hold the shape over the hole, he pushes it down with one finger.  And you can tell he is so proud of himself!

3.  Hape First Pounder  Honestly, he is not quite sure what do with this one yet, but he loves carrying the little hammer around.  He will get it one day.

4. Herschel Supply Co. Settlement Kids Backpack Now that Cullen doesn’t really need a lot with him when we leave the house, I thought it was time to trade in his diaper bag for a backpack.  This one is super cute for a little boy, and I hope he will be able to use it for preschool in a few years.

5.  Teepee.  Cullen loves hiding under tables and in the dog crate, so we thought it would be perfect for him to play in for years to come.  I love this one, but decided to attempt one on my own.  He hasn’t gotten much play time with it yet because I just finished it.  I’m sure he is going to have lots of fun hiding and playing in there though.



His stocking was filled with a few other goodies: some snacks, a Boon snack ball, a Kid O Go Car to push around, and a t-shirt with a Boston Terrier on it (in honor of Macey) that I snagged on clearance from Target.

I’m actually a little late in posting this, since right after Christmas we had to start getting ready for Cullen’s first birthday (more on that later.)  Hopefully now that all of the festivities are over, I can focus on more consistent and timely blogging (one of my goals for this year.)

Holidays Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 28, 2013
We just wanted to take a quick minute to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!
We have so much to be thankful for this year! At the top of the list is this beautiful little boy God has blessed us with. He continues to amaze us every day!


I hope you all have a wonderful day. From our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!!!

What are you thankful for this year?
Halloween Holidays

Cullen’s First Halloween

November 1, 2013

I am not usually a big fan of Halloween.  It is just not my holiday of choice.  But having a little one definitely makes it more fun!  

Allow me to introduce Linus. Who, true to character, loves his pumpkin!



I started thinking about Cullen’s first halloween costume almost as soon as he was born, but it took me until September to actually decide on a costume.  That was the difficult part…making the costume was pretty easy.  He already had the shorts and shoes.  I bought a blue blanket, painted black stripes on a red t-shirt, and found the perfect jack-o-lantern treat bag at Pottery Barn Kids.  At the last minute, I put together a ‘Welcome Great Pumpkin’ sign; a Linus costume would not be complete without it.

Corey, Cullen, and I started the night handing out candy. Cullen had a blast!  He kept reaching his hand into the bowl to take a handful of candy before we could give it to the trick-or-treaters.  Sorry Cullen, no candy yet.

Once things slowed down a little, we took Cullen to about three houses.  He couldn’t not trick-or-treat on his first Halloween!  We really just wanted to show him off to our neighbors, but he got a few pieces of candy anyway.  He had way too much fun ‘sorting’ his candy when we got home.



Happy Halloween everyone!