I Heart Faces: Hugs and Kisses

In watching Ruby and Jason, I have truely learned and daughters and daddies have a very special relationship.  In this photo (taken before the father/ daughter dance) I captured a special "kiss" these two have: they each make the sign for "I love you", they put their I love you signs together (like a kiss), and then say Ka-Boom (as if they're blowing them up).  I hope they always have these special moments!

Head over to I Heart Faces for more hugs and kisses!

I Heart Faces: Hearts

This photo reminds me of the three days Ruby spent in jammies last August while she had Chicken Pox. (To answer your questions, yes, kids do still get chicken pox, but not very often. Yes, she had the vaccine-- twice.)

Heavenly      

Eppervescent

Adventurous  

Ruby             

Timeless     

     Head on over to I Heart Faces to view more photos with heart!

Hanging Purse Rack

*Note: This review is all my opinion and nothing but my opinion. No one is sending me free products (and seriously, why would they?) for bragging about their items on my blog.


So, now that that's out of the way, I have to tell you about these purse racks.  OK, let me back up a bit.  I love Vera Bradley.  There, I said it.  It's washable, it's girly, seriously, what's not to love?  So, for the past 12ish years, people have been buying me Vera Bradley purses, wallets, diaper bags, etc.  Which is awesome, until one day you wake up and realize that half of the floor of your closet is being taken up by a large tote containing all your aforementioned purses (and that's after you parted with all the ones you never used!).

So I browsed Amazon and found these Jokari Hanging Purse Racks (2 in a package).  I used a little Christmas money and bought these bad boys... and I'm SO glad I did.

Let me start by saying these were a breeze to install (about as difficult as stretching a rubber band around a stack of papers).  Secondly, the hooks that hold each purse are movable, so I could space them out however I needed/ wanted to.  The only downfall I see to these is that the hooks are just "L-shaped" hooks (I had wrongly assumed they were clamps of some sort).  So, if the bag does not have straps (like, for instance, a wallet), it can not go on this rack.  I thought that it would also mean that bags would fly out of the closet at me every time I open the door; luckily, that has not happened-- not even once!

So there you have it, my suggestion for a 5 minute organizational tool.  Now, if I could just find a similar tool for all my Gladware containers! 

The {Super} Village

Way back in early December, I bought Jason a Christmas present. We had SO much fun on the zipline in Gatlinburg (yea, I was going to link you to my post about Gatlinburg, but apparently I didn't write one-- seriously???), I decided to give him tickets to zipline in Super Bowl Village....

We dropped the kids off at my mom's enthusiastically with heavy hearts, and then headed down town.  We actually went the weekend before the Super Bowl, so some things were still in progress, like, say the transformation of the Marriott. 

We saw a huge line at the zipline and prayed that we wouldn't have to wait in it.  Luckily, we found out those were people trying to buy tickets that day.  So we go in (a much shorter) line and found the wind speeds were causing some problems.  As it turned out, despite having purchased tickets ahead of time, we waited in line two hours.  Luckily, there was entertainment, like the hung-over people behind us and this man securing the tarp.  It gives you a really good sense of how high up we were about to go, though!  Yikes!

I caught this shot of Lucas Oil Stadium from the top of the zipline platform.

Here's a shot of Jason and me at the top.  I'm telling you, CRAZY wind that day.  Typically my hair doesn't quite look that bad!

This is the area where I was hooked up and given some very laid back instructions.  There were people down below playing games, eating and drinking, and waiting in long lines.  As we zipped across, most stopped what they were doing, looked at you and waved.  It was the closest I will ever feel to being a celebrity!

By the time we got to the top, the Marriott "stickering" was complete!

OK, so we had just finished our magnificent zip, this lady gets on the same line as I was on, and gets stuck in the middle for quite some time.  It was hilarious (since it was her!), but I was also quite thankful it wasn't me! 

Ice sculpture

Super Bowl numbers

Despite the crowds, and the long waits, and the ridiculous prices for most things (our zipline tickets were only $10 each, go figure), we had a marvelous date at the Super Bowl village.  It has been quite an experience to have the big game so close to home this year!

As for the game, if we can't be watching Peyton... Go Eli!!!

January 7th

It has been an especially mild winter in Indiana.  On the night of the Father/ Daughter dance, the boys and I were able to go for a bike ride--- in fleece jackets!!!

After a spectacular ride, we picked up some carrot cake and suprised my Grandma Alice with some dessert.  January 7th would have been my sweet Grandpa Bob's 86th birthday.  Carrot Cake was his absolute fav, so it has become a bit of a tradition to have carrot cake on that day.  I forgot to get pictures (chasing David around her tiny 2 bedroom apartment full of nick-nacks and other breakables is enough without worrying about pictures), but we had a lovely evening remembering my hero!

The Father/ Daughter Dance

For Christmas, one of the presents that Eli and Ruby both got were "date night" coupons.  They each were entitled to one date night with Mom and one date night with Dad.

Ruby's date night with Dad was the Father/ Daughter dance.  Since last year, we have changed churches.  So, instead of going to the Father/ Daughter dance at our old church, they went to a community dance.

I ordered the tickets, I found a dress on the sale rack at Kohl's, I charged up the camera battery to take a ton of a few photos.... 

Ruby was very happy to comply with my picture taking on this day.  She just adored how the sun would catch the sequins on her dress and sparkle.  She spun like a little ballerina and complied with my every photo-taking request!

After photos, Ruby and Daddy were off to dinner at (wait for it) Pizza Hut.  She was intent on using the Pizza Hut coupon she'd gotten at school.  Seriously, she is a girl after my own heart!

Although we're discovering that loud music in a dark gymnasium is just not Ruby's thing, I know she cherished this special time with Dad.