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My Honest Review of Kid’s Night In Box: Faith Addition
Since my hubby and I are going on our 10 year wedding anniversary trip in a couple of days, we thought we’d try Kid’s Night In Box for some quality time before we left. Y’all, it was so cute and fun; I’ll girls loved it. We really enjoyed some quality family time with this box. The only downsize (or you could say upside because we were so focused in the moment!) I didn’t get a lot of photos of it. As with the Date Night In Boxes, there was a fun recipe to go along with the fun. It was a fruit recipe that our kids aren’t a fan of,…
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Thanksgiving Family Vacation
Have you ever just gone away for the holidays? We usually have three family stops to make on Thanksgiving day, but this year we decided to take a family vacation. My dad got us all a condo on the beach for the 4 days, and it was glorious! Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing our families for Thanksgiving, but it was so nice not to have to stress about all the places to go. I’m thinking about asking my dad to do this every other year!! 😉 Our girls loved it, too! I use to live by the beach, and every Thanksgiving my dad would vacation down by us…
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Family Themed Halloween Costume Ideas
I have always loved dressing up for Halloween. Before kiddos, I would dress up to pass out candy and tell my students to stop by to see what costume it would be. (They of course loved it!!) It’s just so fun, and I’ve passed the fun on to my family! Our oldest is getting to the age where she wants to be involved in the planning with me. It’s family fun and bonding… win win!! When picking a theme I tend to either go with something my kiddos like or something that would work well for our time in life. For example, when I was pregnant I used my belly…
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Our Family Staycation
I’ve said it before, family vacations are important! And if you can’t getaway somewhere a great alternative is to have a staycation. A staycation is where you do things in your community or things that are near you. We did one this summer, and well, it didn’t go quite according to plan, but it was still fun. The girls LOVED having their Daddy home for a whole week! And honestly, it didn’t matter if we went somewhere they were seriously happy to get some quality time in with him and us. We had plan on an activity each day with the kiddos. We planned it the week of Labor Day.…
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Family Vacations and Why They’re Important
Speaking to one of my friends from mom group a while back, she had took 3 kids to the Dells by herself for a few days. Just to get away and have some fun. She said it was the most amazing thing! To just be able to enjoy them and not worry about anything else but enjoying the moment. And it is so true. As much as I’d like to spend all day every day enjoying my kiddos, at home there are other responsibilities waiting to be done. That’s why I think it’s so important to get away as a family! It made me think of our last family vacation.…
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Chicago Trip with Kids
For hotels I would suggest either Hampton Inn Chicago Downtown Magnificent Mile or Hampton Inn & Suites Chicago-Downtown. Both Hampton hotels are downtown, however, the first one has an indoor pool while the second one has a rooftop seasonal pool. With older kids, if they like swimming, pools in hotels are always a good bet! Breakfast is also included for families. If pools aren’t necessary I suggest Holiday Inn Express Magnificent Mile. Day 1: If you drove into the city or took a train, drop bags off at the front desk of your hotel then Uber or take the CTA Red Line to Wrigley Field. Hotdogs are a must as…
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Chicago Trip with Toddlers
Vacationing with toddlers isn’t always a happy place. Little ones get tired, but they also like to be busy! Planning trips for them and with them may be difficult. I’ve researched some things that we are planning on taking our 2 and 4 year at the end of this summer to do in Chicago. I didn’t make this trip as packed as a normal trip due to the fact that you never know how your little ones will handle it. I did however add a few extra fun things you could do in addition to the itinerary. As long as you accept and prepare yourself that it will be chaotic…
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Family photos
Do you take yearly family photos? In our family we take them at least once a year, sometimes twice. I’m pretty lucky, though, because I’m a photographer and so is my sister in law, so we can take them pretty much any time we want! My husband loves me oh so very much because of it! Even before we took yearly family photos, I ALWAYS had to capture any and every moment we had. Kids grow and change so much the first few years of their lives that it’s nice to take them a couple times a year. When they get a bit older just once a year will be…
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Sometimes You GET to Be a Human Pillow
As I think about this year’s Fourth of July celebrations with two young kiddos, I feel exhausted, but extremely blessed. My husband is the president of the Chamber of Commerce in our town, and they run the annual Old Fashioned Independence Day Celebration each year, which is fantastic for our community! However, it means that Daddy is preoccupied for most of the day. We got to listen to his speech and eat lunch with him, but we enjoyed the festivities without him. It was a day spent in the hot, hot heat (we’ve had a heat advisory for the last couple of days!) full of hotdogs, ice cream, snow cones, lemon…
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Creating Family Traditions
When I think of traditions I often think of the holidays. For instance, the day after Thanksgiving we have a tradition of listening to holiday music and sipping hot chocolate while decorating the Christmas tree. My husband and I also have a tradition of watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” on Christmas night. However, a tradition doesn’t have to be on a holiday. It can be any time of the year and be whatever you want it to be. I’ve read about a family that has a tradition of a “Yes” day every year where they say yes to the kids for whatever they want that specific day. For instance, they…
