#WW: Spring color

Springtime in Atlanta always means gorgeous colors! Even the flowers at my house are behaving nicely:

Lilac

Mothers' Day $120 giveaway! #win

Mothers are amazing, supportive, wonderful people, and I have joined with a group of Georgia Social Media Moms to celebrate moms everywhere!

How, you ask?
With a fantastic $120 Amazon gift card giveaway!

Enter today for your mom, your grandma, your wife, a friend, or even yourself! Click into the entry form below, and make sure to also leave a comment (favorite Mother's Day gift to give or receive) on this blog to qualify.

Entry-Form

Good luck! 

Saturday: National Day of Puppetry

The Center For Puppetry Arts is a magical place in the middle of the city. It is a place where stories come to life for the entire family.  We love spending special weekend moments at various shows, and Amelia always enjoys making her own puppets in the free post-show create-a-puppet workshops.

About our schools...

I saw a very concerning email today. I am a parent of a soon-to-be Kindergartner, so a friend forwarded a PTA email. The email shared the upcoming school district budget proposal for FY2014 - and highlighted some significant concerns:

Many teacher jobs are on the chopping block.

Teachers who keep their jobs will each face 5 days of furlough.

Band and orchestra for middle and high schools? Budget proposal says CUT.

Art and music classes for elementary? Yep... budget proposal says CUT.

Media and library professionals? Cut and CUT.

Seven Ways to Enjoy a Park

By Lesli Peterson 

Lesli is co-founder and editor at Expedition Mom, a North American family-travel website specializing in experiential “KNOW before you go” Adventure Guides and City Itineraries, with a Southern twist. 

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April 20 – 28 is National Park Week in which visitors can gain entrance to our National Parks for free. Whether you are visiting one of Georgia’s 11 National Parks, 63 State Parks or the thousands of local parks around the state, there are an unlimited number of ways for your family to enjoy themselves. Below are seven of my favorites:

1. Enjoy a picnic – Picnics don’t have to be extravagant to be fun. Keep an old quilt in the trunk for an impromptu spread. Lay it out for a packed basket or fast food from a drive through. Even a simple apple tastes better on a blanket in the shade.

Stressful thoughts reach no more

I like to sit upon the shore,

Where stressful thoughts can reach no more. 

Where breath is deep,

Where pace is slow,

It is my favorite place to go. 

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Linked up to Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop: 
Write a poem about your favorite place to be

Boston beauty - and kindness

The news on Monday afternoon was shocking, sad, and unthinkable. I clicked through photo galleries, watched videos, and chatted with friends on Facebook about the attack.

But above the pain,
After the shock,
Beyond the sadness,

We all saw action, heroism, and kindness. Strangers opening up their homes and wallets - and veins - to help. We saw people running towards the bomb sites to aid those in need.

Perfect weather for #Chattanooga

Spring is in the air! The weather has been lovely, mid 60s to mid 70s most days.We did not travel for Spring Break this year, since we were just coming off of our Hawaii vacation high (and we received the credit card bills - ouch). But we do want to celebrate spring with a special day out. I lived in Chattanooga for a few years during college, and it is a phenomenal outdoorsy family vacation spot.

Best outdoor family activities in Chattanooga:

The Walnut Street Bridge
Chattanooga's walking bridge is a pedestrian-only bridge across the river. Lovely scenery of the High Museum and the Tennessee Aquarium, with cute shops, snow cones, and ice cream on the other side. 

Mama craft: Easy Hairbow Holder

I will miss several cute aspects of Amelia's room when we move. My husband's hand painted cattails and lovingly applied chair rail, all done in preparation of her birth. My wall art, made from scrapbook paper, inexpensive white frames, and 3-dimensional butterfly stickers. And my cute hairbow holders:

These are extremely easy and inexpensive to make, so perhaps I will need to make new ones for her Cinderella-inspired space once we move.

#WW: Not allowed to tell me she's bored!

Do you want to know one very helpful benefit of a birthday that always falls at the start of Spring Break?

Tons of new toys and activities!

She is not allowed to tell me she's bored this week!

She's a big kid now

BabyCenter sent us this via email yesterday:

"Welcome to the big kid years! Of course, your child still looks tiny compared to those 10-year-olds on the playground, but one glance at her baby photos will remind you just how far you have come together."

Awwwwwwwwww.

My sweetheart is a big kid now. She is chest-high to me, beginning to read, and completely amazing. We celebrated her birthday with an exciting party at BounceU over the weekend. The kids had a blast playing with the amazing party pros (who also made sure I did not lift a finger the entire time). And cosmic bounce was so much fun! Even the younger friends enjoyed it; I had been worried that there would be some fears and tears.

A glowing, bouncing, very Disney birthday for my big girl

Amelia's birthday is coming on Monday! We are looking forward to a very fun party at BounceU in Kennesaw, where they always have private parties and now sparkling, glowing cosmic bounce!

Photo courtesy BounceU Kennesaw

Per the birthday girl's request, she will have a Tinkerbell birthday cake and will be receiving an adorable set of Tinkerbell hard-sided roller luggage for our next traveling adventure. What she doesn't know is that she will also be getting tickets to the upcoming Disney on Ice presents Worlds of Fantasy playing at the Arena Gwinnett Center on May 1-5. I look forward to the show - these shows are always entertaining and exciting - but I especially can't wait to see her face when she sees TINKERBELL!

I tried something new

Four years and 361 days ago, I tried something new. There was no going back, no time to question, no time to rethink this massively life changing event.

Four years and 361 days ago, at 11:57 p.m., I took a step into an new world. I became a mom.

I will look into your beautiful face