Joyfully Weary

We love to celebrate in our home and, therefore, even the smallest of holidays gets a bit of fanfare - I want my kids to grow up with the habit of taking time to rejoice and be thankful.  Easter, however, is no small holiday for us, but rather a main one - the reason we can rejoice.    “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);   because, if  you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and  believe in your heart  that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved .   For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.  Romans 10: 8-10 We started the day by celebrating at our church and then headed to Maca and Papa's for a delicious meal, baskets full of goodies, and an egg hunt. required holiday picture excited egg hunter #1 excited egg hunter #2 ...she wears her excitement on the inside ...

I know spring is suppose to bring an onslaught of brights and pastels but this week was all about navy and white for me. There something about that color combination that gives me hope of warmer weather.  SUNDAY shirt: old navy , sweater: thrift, skirt; anthropologie , shoes: diy TUESDAY   shirt + pants: gap , shoes: dsw shirt currently on sale here THURSDAY   cardigan: gap , dress: hand-me-down, shoes: dsw *cardigan currently on sale here Want more? Check out these link parties to see lots of other ladies having fun with their clothes: Watch What I'm Wearing , Sunday Style ,   Monday Mingle , What I Wore Wednesday , and Dress for the Day.   Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Almost a year ago now, we decided to get memberships to Chicago's Brookfield Zoo and it's one of the best $100 we've ever spent. I've lost track of how many times the kids and I have visited, but every time we go they are super excited and we are still discovering new things. It's a huge zoo with tons of great animal exhibits as well other extraordinary additions that make it an exceptionally fun place for young families: a summer splash pad, the Hamill Family Play Zoo (think small children's museum), playgrounds, a petting zoo, picnic areas, etc.  Maca joined the kids and I for a visit this past Thursday and it turned out to be a perfect day - well, as "perfect" as days can be when they are spent with three young children. Once we arrived at the zoo we had a mini picnic in the car since I was afraid it'd still be too cold to eat outside. The weather, however, was quite warm - they boys went coatless the whole time. We didn't see a...

White crayon resist art is a pretty simple classic but it's one of my children's favorites. We actually do repeat versions of basic crafts a lot. The familiarity helps build my children's confidence in their artistic creative. They also require little prep from me so they are very low stress.  Our Supplies: white construction paper , white wax crayon , and  dot markers - you could also use watercolors or even f ood coloring .  Step #1: use the white crayon to draw a picture on the paper - it helps to press hard. For these eggs we drew free hand and used some stencils.  Step 2: go over over crayon art with dot markers And that's it! Three supplies and two steps - a perfect craft for young children!  our finished eggs!   Looking for more homeschool or craft ideas? Check out these link parties: Link and Learn , Made by Little Hands , Montessori Monday , Hip Homeschool Hop , Preschool Corner ,  For the Kid...

I probably say this every time I wear it, but, I adore this skirt! It's one of my favorite pieces I've ever purchased from Anthropologie . It definitely wins "most worn" - all the colors in the pattern make it very versatile.  TUESDAY scarf: target , sweater: gap , skirt: anthropologie , shoes: dsw This outfit was built around the gold polka dot tights - I wanted to wear them at least one more time before the weather got too warm.  WEDNESDAY hat + shirt + shorts: gap , tights: target , shoes: charming charlie's necklaces: kohl's + f21 This outfit was thrown together last minute - it's really not appropriate to wear pajama's over to friends' house for dinner even if you are only having salad and pizza. I'm not sure I'll ever outgrow my affection for skirts and dresses over jeans. I also have a thing for quirky socks - hopefully nobody judges when I'm still wearing both at the age of seventy. F...

This week the kids and I had a lot of fun exploring a box from Kiwi Crate * . For those of you who may be asking "what is Kiwi Crate ?" -   it  is a monthly subscription service for kids ages 3-7. Each month kids  receive  a themed  (dinosaurs, gardens, superheroes, music, etc)  box. Each box contains 2-3 carefully designed and kid-tested projects, which cover a range of developmental areas and subjects, including art, science, and imaginative play.  The crate we received was the farmer's market crate . The kids loved the activities included - it's kept their attention for the past three days!  Our crate included everything we needed to complete the projects.  our crate all the fun stuff that was packed inside The first activity we did from our crate was make produce for the market. There were four different pieces of produce so it worked out perfectly for my crew. Little Lady, who is two. had a bit of trouble lac...