Valentine's Bust

  I had a conversation with AJM, who is 6 yrs old, about Valentine's Day. He was telling me about a girl in his Kindergarten class who was very nice to him. I asked if she was going to be his Valentine. He told me no. So then I asked him if he would be my Valentine. He said yes. I told him we had to do something nice for each other and he told me Ok.

Soccer Coach's surprise!!

  I love sending mail. To brighten someones day when they least expect it is worth the money spent. Itty E's birthday being the day after Valentine's I decided to go all out. What started off as sending her family members homemade Valentine's turned in to making 30+ to send to my friends and family too. JK and I made three bags of chocolate covered pretzels to send along with our cards. I sent a surprise package to nanny school as well to the boss guy's work office.  Both places were over the moon with excitement and the thoughtfulness put into their surprises. Which then turned into surprising my soccer coach friend in England with a care package, and fellows nannies in Singapore and Connecticut.


   AJM also received one of my Valentine's surprises with a note asking him to be my valentine signed from his secret admirer. He called me one afternoon to thank me for the treats and to break my heart. "sorry Tara but I can't be your Valentine. I told Isaac I would be his."   Yes, that is right.... I got dissed but a 6 year old for a boy.

JK and I rarely do anything without involving wine..

   What started out as a simple idea turned into a very expensive holiday for someone who didn't even have a Valentine. But it was well worth it!!

Eating My Words

Chocolate, red velvet, yellow and white.

 Itty E turned one on February 15th!! Have a really been with her for almost 10 months? I was very fortunate to spend her actual birthday with her since mom and dad had to work. Perfect day! We went to lunch and played like crazy. With the move and other family events going on, we didn't have her party until March. After careful planning and a few hours searching around on Pinterest, we decided on a Little Einstein themed party. We found lots of caterpillar ideas for decorations but it was the cake that I knew she had to have.

smash cake.

Final touches

All done!

Looks easy enough

 

 

Not too bad for a first timer!

  My Grandma and mom decorated cookies and cakes as good as professionals. For years my mom has told me that I need to learn to decorate so I can make my children's birthday cakes. "why would I need to do that? There will always been a bakery at Giant Eagle." Well, I definitely ate my words! I found a cake that looked simple enough that even I could do. Needless to say it was the hit of the party. Itty E loved it and couldn't wait to get her hands in it.

  Going over the top for her first birthday, I am really in for it for the years to come.

Moving On Up

 Just when we think things are going to be calm and smooth sailing, its not. Well for me it is, for our "family of four" not so much.
   It has been a month since we moved into a new, big, beautiful home. What a difference 5,000 square feet can make! The move took Itty E a week or so to fully adjust to her new surroundings but now, she loves it! She loves finally having windows at her level to watch the guys across the street building a new house. We have found all sorts of new places to hide from mom and dad too.
  Our first few days it felt like we moved out of state, not knowing a single person and only knowing where the grocery store is. Every week we have new visitors: Appliance guys, audio and vision guys, furniture people. Itty E LOVES IT!!
   We have a large pond in the back yard which stretches over two properties. The parents joked that they would just get me a trailer to put on the other side of the pond that way I am always close by. Oh, and that I can just row my boat to work. Good laugh! I have been staying at the house during the week just to get everyone acclimated to the new surroundings. Little Girl goes to bed at 8, so the parents and I have a few hours to watch tv and regroup for the next day.

An Artist Has Been Born!!

 I have become a Pinterest fanatic! Lots of ideas for kids art projects, quotes to put a smile on your face, unique recipes, and any DIY project you can think of. I have found some fun things to do with Itty E as she gets older. With her birthday the day after Valentine's Day, we made a special surprise for mom and dad. I got a small canvas and taped out with word LOVE with painters tape. I found a recipe for edible paint (flour, water, sugar and food coloring) and Itty E went to town. Lucky enough I thought like child and had my parents come up to help, we were going to have a mess on our hands.

   Well, that we did. Itty E had no hesitations what so ever! And somehow, she even knew it was edible putting her face in the paint. With a cloth on the floor and only a diaper on she went to town making a huge mess and not giving a care in the world. Pat on my back, it was so much fun to see her love this project and see how much mom and dad enjoyed our present.