I’m so sorry I’m not all transitioned yet! My husband is doing everything for me (I have no idea how to do it) and it’s not all switched over yet. I have so little space left on this blog that it won’t even let me post a photo, so I can’t share the Summer Bucket List until everything is switched.
I can’t wait to get back to blogging! I have so much to share! Please keep checking back!
I’m in the process of switching up my blog to a different host. Everything else will stay the same and I plan to be back to blogging next Tuesday.
I’ll be sharing our 2014 Summer Bucket List, so be sure to come back to check it out and download one for yourself!
Sorry about all the confusion!
I was trying to do a Weekend Favorites post this morning, but it won’t let me upload my photos, so I will be back with that tomorrow!
Sorry about that!
It’s hard to believe that my once 5.8 pound baby boy is now a 37 pound five-year-old. When I was growing up my parents always talked about how quickly the time flies by once you have kids of your own. That is something that no one can truly understand until they have children of their own. It definitely flies by.
When I look back at photos from Hudson’s first week or first year, it seems like only a week ago. But on the same hand, when I think about the hard times with him, tantrums galore, that part seems so long ago. He’s growing up and growing into a smart, sweet boy. Now that he’s five, I can no longer refer to him as a toddler. He is officially a “big kid”. I both love and hate it. Four was a good age on him, so I’m sure five will be even better, but I can’t help wish that time could stand still for just a little while. I love all the new things that come with each new age, but sometimes it’s just a little hard to let go of some of the old stuff.
Right now, he still loves to cuddle at bedtime and will still give us hugs and kisses when we drop him off at school. I try to really soak it all up, because I know that that won’t always be the case. Before I know it, he’ll be embarrassed by mom and dad and running off with his friends.
Watching someone grow from a tiny newborn to a person is intense and amazing. There are so many emotions that are experienced along the way that it’s hard to put it into words. But if there is one word that sums up what I feel when I look at my five-year-old other than love is proud. I couldn’t be more proud of my little guy. He’s an awesome kid and I look forward to all the years ahead!
Happy 5th Birthday Hudson! I love you tons and tons.
Five of Our Favorite Things To Do in Omaha in the Spring & Summer
We love living in Omaha. It’s a great city that is very family friendly. There are so many fun things to do here when the weather warms up. Here is a list of a few of our favorite activities and festivals that we attend every year. If you are ever traveling to Omaha, you have to check these out!
Henry Doorly Zoo
Our zoo was voted best zoo in the country by Family Fun Magazine for the second year in a row. It was also named best zoo by TripAdvisor. We are very proud of our zoo. I may be biased, but it is the best! We have a membership, so we spend a lot of time at the zoo all year round. Our kids love it. Especially the aquarium. Learn more about our awesome zoo here.
Omaha Farmer’s Market
Our farmer’s market starts May 2 and we’re super excited. There are actually a few different markets in town every weekend. The ones we go to most often are the Old Market market on Saturdays and the Aksarben market on Sundays. Sometimes we go to both! I bought my basil plants at the farmer’s market last year and they were awesome, so I plan on buying all of the herbs and veggie plants for our garden there this year. Less than two weeks to go! Learn more about the Farmer’s Market here.
Lee G Simmons Conservation Park & Wildlife Safari
This place is so fun! It’s great all year round, but really fantastic in the fall. It’s located on I-80 just outside of Omaha. It’s a drive-thru safari, but there are some opportunities to get out of the car and explore. There is hiking trails, a pond (Frog Pond), wolf, bear and Bald Eagle viewing areas, a small petting zoo and a cute little gift shop/cafe that includes some small indoor exhibits, as well as, some bird exhibits outside the shop. We actually had one of our best autumn days on record here last November. We hiked all the trails and explored the pond. I took a ton of photos. I have not been through it in the Spring, so I look forward to going again soon. Find out more about the safari here.
Fontenelle Forest
Fontenelle is our go-to for hiking and outdoor exploration. It’s one of my husband’s favorite places. They have miles of boardwalk that weave through the forest or you can hike the dirt trails. They also have a fun outdoor exploration area for kids and an indoor exhibit area and gift shop. I’m hoping to take photos of the kids here this spring. There is a trail that leads down to the river and photos down there would be amazing!
The Old Market
The Old Market is one of the entertainment districts in downtown Omaha. It’s filled with restaurants, shops, cute coffee shops and bakeries and art galleries. We like to go down to just stroll around, grab some coffee, lunch or dinner and basically just check out what’s going on. There are festivals held here in the summertime that we usually attend too.
So there you have it. Our five favorite things to do in Omaha. Of course there are tons of great things to do here and this is just a snippet, but I couldn’t possibly include them all!
We had a very busy, full week. Hudson had a medical issue that we had to deal with and then we had his 5th birthday party to plan and host, as well as, Easter. Here are two of my favorites from the weekend.
I cannot believe my little boy is turning 5! Where does the time go…
These two are just the cutest, sweetest kiddos ever. I’m totally biased, but they are. This was right after their Easter egg hunt. I didn’t even tell Hudson to put his arm around her!
It was an awesome family filled weekend, after all the craziness of last week, I’m ready for a normal, calm week.
How was your Easter?
A Spring Fairy Hunt was one of the activities on our Spring Bucket List. It is an idea I came up with one day while trying to come up with fun things the kids could do outside once it was nice out. I see a lot of great ideas for scavenger hunts online, but my kids can’t read quite yet, so I wanted to come up with a hunt that would work for them without my help. One day I was looking at some of Harper’s art supplies and found some cute fairy stickers that I bought at The Dollar Tree and the idea was born. I went back to the dollar store to see if I could find some new fairy stickers. I found the perfect ones, took them home and attached them to popsicle sticks.
I was planning on waiting until the yard bloomed and we planted flowers before we did the hunt since that’s more “fairy-like”, but since this week is Hudson’s spring break, I thought it would be a fun activity for them. I was right. They loved it. They had so much fun that we had to do it five more times and then Hudson wanted to hide them for me to hunt! They even wanted to do it again in the house, which we did about 20 more times. Hooray for a successful idea!
Here’s a look at the fairies and the hunt.
Like I said, the kids loved this and we’ll for sure be doing it again. I’d like to figure out a fun summer themed hunt to add to our Summer Bucket List.
Another activity crossed off our list. On to the next!
This week is Hudson’s spring break from school. It’s not really that big of a deal considering he only attends preschool 2 1/2 hours a day, three days a week, but I want to take the kids to do some fun stuff this week. I also have a lot going on. Hudson’s birthday party is this weekend. We are hosting Easter at our house, so we’ll have people in town and I have lots of food to prepare. I’ve also been doing some event planning work for a couple of month in preparation for a conference that begins in town this week. And on top of all of that, we have a couple of doctor appointments that we have scheduled.
So, basically it’s going to be an extremely crazy week around here. I’ve decided to take a little time away from the blog. I may still post a couple more times, but I’m not holding myself to anything.
With any luck, I’ll even be able to grab a few minutes to relax and enjoy the extra time with my little guy!
I hope you guys have a great week!
Planning a birthday party, Easter, spring break, potty training and event planning a conference (I used to work in event planner before I had my first baby).
Feeling so happy to be spending lots of time outdoors.
Thanking my parents for buying our kids their first swing set.
Listening to the Elise Gets Crafty podcast and really liking what I’m hearing.
Grilling dinners and…
Drinking cold beer on the deck while the kids play.
Thrifting…
Adding to my mug collection.
Daydreaming about our first family camping trip.
Trying to decide how I want to set up our garden.
Hoping to sit outside by the fire tonight.
Looking forward to a visit from my sister and her family this weekend.
Loving our weekends and making the most of that time that we have Jeremy home.
I hope you have a great weekend!
As you may remember, I set a little project goal for myself this year called Creating in 2014 because I want to get my creative juices flowing again. My hopes for the project is that I spend more time being creative and that I end up with 12 awesome handmade projects, whether they’re big or small.
April’s project is not my own original project. It’s a copied project from the girls at Eighteen25. It’s their Pickle Jar Project and I have been in love with this project since the day I first saw them. It’s been on my Pinterest board forever and I still loved the idea when I came across the pin recently. I mean, you know how sometimes you pin something thinking that it’s really cute or awesome, but then later when you’re going back through your boards for inspiration, you see it and think “why did I pin this?”. Well, this was totally not one of those pins for me and it was time I stopped coveting theirs and make my own. I’m so glad I did! Here is my version of their adorable pickle jars.
Mine are obviously very similar, except I only made two and I used the same candle sticks as my bases.
Aren’t they just so cute?! They are definitely cuter when they’re filled with pretty candy.
This was a very simple and inexpensive project. You can find the tutorial over at Eighteen25.
These are not something I will leave out all the time. I plan to pull them out for the holidays and fill them with candy colored to coordinate with whatever holiday is approaching. I can’t wait to use them over and over again. They are a fun addition to my holiday decor!
a fun place to talk all things books, flowers and coffee
A personal blog about capturing life and designing it.
A personal blog about capturing life and designing it.
peace by piece
A personal blog about capturing life and designing it.
A personal blog about capturing life and designing it.
A personal blog about capturing life and designing it.
A personal blog about capturing life and designing it.
A personal blog about capturing life and designing it.
A personal blog about capturing life and designing it.
A personal blog about capturing life and designing it.
A personal blog about capturing life and designing it.
A personal blog about capturing life and designing it.
A personal blog about capturing life and designing it.
Tashia Doyle 