how we celebrated (part 2)

Yes, I know it is almost March, but I thought I would take advantage of this "extra" day in February to post a few more photos of how we celebrated this month of LOVE.....then it is on to all things SPRING!! I am making plans to Spring clean and de-clutter and freshen things up a bit around the home front , but before we move forward.......a look back.

Valentine cards for the boy (thank you Pinterest)

 Class parties

after-school surprises in little mailboxes

hand-made bags for Valentine cards & candy (mostly candy!!)

our annual "heart attack" in the kitchen

one of my favorites

"I love daddy because he takes me to the donut shop"

our breakfast table decorated for the big day

a sweet gift from daddy

ready for school

our decked out mantel

more class parties

Valentine hugs

my beverage of choice for the evening

seeing Lady A in concert

an impromptu after school outing

a walk in the woods

a canoe ride on the lake

Our February wasn't all rose petals and chocolate. Like every month, there were some bumps along the way (hello migraine diagnosis!! hello cleaning up vomit at 1:30am!!), but it was also a month of celebrating with friends, creating special moments, enjoying spring-like temperatures, date nights, snuggling with the kids, and perhaps most importantly....it was the month that the Cadbury mini eggs made their annual appearance at Target!! Here's to a great March ;-)

how we celebrated (part 1)

I love February. I love Valentine's Day. I love that it makes us focus on the ones that we love in a very purposeful, concrete way. And yes, I'm aware that we should focus on the ones that we love every day of the year.....but it's nice to have a red and pink, chocolate-covered holiday to remind us that love really is in the details. (I'm totally annoyed by all the "We don't celebrate Valentine's Day because it's just another commercial holiday drummed up to sell cards and chocolate....blah, blah, blah" but that's another story for another day).

I look at Valentine's Day (and really the whole month of February) as a time to make the ordinary just a little less ordinary. To find inexpensive, and sometimes not so inexpensive ways to make the ones we love feel special.

This year, we had a few friends over for a little "Crafternoon" to decorate Valentine boxes for school. I had the best time gathering the supplies and snacks, and setting everything out to make it look festive and fun.

The girls had fun being together, and getting their "homework" done, and I loved having a house full of mommys and kiddos running around crafting up a storm!!

where to begin?

WOW! I don't think I have ever gone this long without blogging, and I have seriously missed it. Busy time of year....blah, blah, blah......I won't bore you with all of my lame reasons for not blogging, and instead, I will play a little Christmas catch-up.

I took hundreds of pictures during the month of December, so obviously I can't share all of them here, but here's a little peak into how the Gussios have spent the last few weeks.

 putting up tiny trees in the kid's rooms

 waking up each morning to find George in his latest hiding place

unwrapping and reading Christmas stories under the tree

 putting up a few new decorations

 looking at old Santa photos

 and taking new Santa photos

 trying hard to get a decent family photo

 baking pretzel hugs for classmates

 being a great helper for Mama

 bringing treats to school for a much-anticipated pajama party

 chatting with Santa (again) at our Christmas "Cheer" party

 and making jars of reindeer food with good friends

 wrapping up treats for special friends and co-workers

 practicing "looking but not touching"

 wiggling an extremely loose tooth

 making sweet memories

 finding the one we asked for under the tree

 and a few more we weren't expecting

 taking sleepy-eyed pictures early Christmas morning

and wearing matching family pajamas (couldn't get Grant to stop playing)

This time of year can be a bit overwhelming. There's lots to do, to buy, to wrap, to remember. Cards to mail, traditions to carry on, lessons to teach, places to go, people to see....and for most moms there is the added stress of trying to make everything look magical and memorable. I will be the first to admit that it can be hard to balance the true spirit of the Season with the urge to go and buy and sprinkle everything with magic dust, but in the end, it is 100% worth all of the effort. There were ups and downs for our family during the month of December (just like any other month of the year), but looking back on all of our pictures from the past few weeks makes me realize all over again how truly blessed we are, and I am so very very grateful.

the arboretum

I love the Dallas Arboretum in the Fall! It is magically beautiful, and filled to the brim with pumpkins and flowers around every corner. As luck would have it, the temperatures were less than Fall-like on the day we went, which resulted in a lot of complaining mixed in with the beautiful scenery......but I'm still glad we made the effort. I'm still glad that we went to breakfast that morning as a family (even if the service was pretty bad and the kids were absolutely starving by the time their meal arrived). I'm still glad that I have the pictures from that day even if the sun was blazing and the kiddos were squinting in most of them. I'm still glad that we walked around together, and pointed out the beauty surrounding us, and held hands, and had snacks on our blanket even if it would have been easier (and cooler) to let the kids run around in our own back yard. I'm still glad we made these memories.