The Best Parts

Getting back to regular life after a vacation is always slow going.  

We had a great time in Florida and it's great to be home in our own beds again.  Our March Madness brackets are busted so we are just going to enjoy watching the games, the baby is teething so that means he's extra needy and our cat hasn't felt well all week.  I gave Olive a haircut that looks super cute and got caught up on laundry.  We are gearing up for a fun week of FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY excitement next week.  I need to get busy making lists for all of my to dos.

The best parts of our week were:

 // 1 //

SNOW DAY

The day before we left on Spring Break it snowed!  I didn't even know Indiana was supposed to get snow so this was a really fun surprise.  We barely got an inch, but you better believe we put on our snow gear and made the most of that inch of snow.  The kids loved it and I wish Fletcher could fit in his bear snow suit forever.  Olive is modeling a snow hat that was mine when I was a little girl.  Thanks, Mom, for saving it for her.

// 2 //

Kate Spade Earrings

KS earrings are my very favorite earrings on the planet.  I have picked up a new pair every summer for the last three years.  These are my newest and they're SO PRETTY ON!  I never pay more than $20 for them and they are such great quality.  My first pair still gets worn several times a week and look new.  If you ever need a gift idea for a friend, buy them these earrings.  I always pick them up at the Kate Spade outlets at the beach.

// 3 //

Roar Like a Dinosaur!!  Fletcher is turning one!!

Fletcher's cute invitations went out and we are party prepping.  I have always loved throwing Olive's birthday parties and it looks like boy parties are going to be just as much fun.  I was happy with how his invitations turned out and then I printed them at Sams.  I even had some dinosaur help sealing my envelopes :)

// 4 //

You Are Free

I am a few chapters into You are Free by Rebekah Lyons and am really enjoying the message.  I love the idea of paying close attention to your spiritual gifts and callings to direct the paths you take in life.  I've found myself taking lots of notes so I can't wait to share more about it once I finish it.

// 5 //

Spring Break Trip to Florida

We hopped on a plane and headed South for Spring Break.  The kids did great and we had a blast.  The warm weather and sunshine was great and both of my kids love the pool/ocean so we had a wonderful time.  I was thrilled to get some key lime pie and crab cakes, do some shopping at the outlets and watch my kids play at the ocean.  I'll do some posts about things I learned after flying with two young kids, share some pretty ocean pictures along with some of the other adventures we went on while we were in Naples, FL next week.

 Polka-Dotty Place Week in Review:

Isn't this dress adorable!?!  I just love it for Olive and love that I got a great deal on it!

Monday: Save or Splurge: Spring Clothes

Tuesday: Easter Candy Menu

Wednesday: Inexpensive Experiences for Kids

Thursday: Fletcher's First Birthday Wish List

I hope you have a really great weekend!!

Linking up with ThoughtsforThursday, Oh Hey Friday!

HighFiveforFriday, FiveonFriday, and Momfessionals

First Birthday Wish List

First Birthday Wish List by polkadottyplace featuring orange home decor

Fletcher's 1st Birthday 
is NEXT WEEK!!

Not sure how we are already at the one year mark, but I guess time flies when you're busy with a new baby.  Add in a new house, a move and life with two kids will do that to you :)

I thought it would be fun to see what a 1 year old boy would put on a birthday wish list.

PRACTICAL:

Clothes // Shoes // Socks // Sippy Cups

Fletcher is wearing 24mos/2T for Spring & Summer.  

He'd love some cute, preppy outfits, warm weather pjs or things like socks for toddlers.  He also loves drinking out of sippy cups with flexible spouts.  And we will be outdoors a lot so some baby sunglasses would be nice.  I'd love for him to get some baby boy Salt Water Sandals, too.

WATER TOYS:

Bath // Pool
Fletcher loves bath time and playing in the pool so any water toys would be a hit.

FUN:

Animals // Cars // Balls // Board Books

Fletcher loves all things boy!  He'd be thrilled with cars, trucks, push cars, animals, board books and baskets to put them in.  We're a huge fan of wooden toys so anything wooden or Melissa and Doug would get played with a ton.  One of his favorite things is having his own basket of toys to dump and refill.  He'd also love any outdoor toys or anything he could play with in the backyard. 

I think Fletcher will be thrilled with anything that comes his way on his birthday!  I'm sure his big sister will be more than excited to help him rip open his gifts.  We are celebrating with just our little family on his actual birthday and then both sides of our extended family the weekend after his birthday.  Should be a blast!! 

Inexpensive Experiences for Kids

I'm always on the hunt for inexpensive or FREE activities to do with our kids in the community.  I have come across several options lately that I wanted to share with you.

1.  WALKS
We load up our stroller with a snack and water for everyone.  We try to walk for at least an hour.  It's great exercise for me and the fresh air is good for all of us.  We walk all over our neighborhood and a few other paths in our area.

2.  LIBRARY
 I've mentioned before, but the library is so much fun for kids.  Our library offers story times, music classes, games, hands on learning and so many fun book options.  We all enjoy going and we have been checking out books regularly.  This is also a fun activity for a variety of ages.  Both of my kids really enjoy the programs the library offers and it's all FREE.  Our librarians are excellent at introducing the kids to new materials.  We went to a construction themed story time and the KIDS loved playing with FLOAM.  It was great for the bigger kids and not so great for babies because they wanted to eat it.  Olive has been asking to go and play with it again.

It's so fun to teach Olive new things about the library as she gets older.
Pushing the correct elevator buttons on her own
Returning our book each week
Helping me scan the books
Selecting books for herself
And learning from new librarians each week

3. BOUNCE HOUSE
Look for a local bounce house and see if they offer discounted day time prices.  We have a great option for discounted admission when we get a group of kids to go to ours.  It costs $3/child for several hours of fun.

4. BRICKS 4 KIDZ

Our local Bricks 4 Kids offers Mommy & Me classes during the day, day camps, evening events, weekend activities, birthdays and more.  We like the $6 admission for tons of fun.

5. CHILDREN'S MUSEUM

So we invested in a pass for our family last month and now the majority of the events at the museum are free.  We go to their science classes, just go and play and are looking forward to going to their special programs throughout the coming year.  I love that there are fun things for both kids to do.  

6. PARKS

There are tons of fun parks in our city and I'm planning to visit as many as possible with the kids.  We definitely have a growing list of favorites and just a few parks we wouldn't go back to.

We are looking forward to some fun FREE Earth Day activities, swimming lessons, an air show, science classes and more this Spring!

What are some inexpensive experiences you do with your kids for fun??

Easter Candy Menu

What is on your Easter Candy Menu this year?? 

Does your family have family favorite candies they like to find in their Easter basket??

We are BIG fans of these 4 candies:

1. Jolly Rancher Jelly Beans

These are dangerous!!  I love the pink and red the best, but will eat all colors except for the orange.  Orange flavored anything is just GROSS :)

We've already gone through one bag of these.

2. Cadbury Milk Chocolate Mini Eggs

(not the gooey Cadbury eggs)

Also, eaten one bag of these.

3. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups or Eggs

4. Egg Shape Bubble gum

All of these things will be in our Easter baskets.  I'm probably going to have to wait until closer to Easter to buy our candy otherwise it'll all just get eaten.

What is on your MUST HAVE Easter candy menu??

Malted milk balls?

Cadbury eggs?

Starburst jelly beans?

Chocolate bunny?

Marshmallow bunnies?

Black jelly beans?

It's time to link up with my favorite Tuesday Talk ladies.

Be sure to join us with your favorite posts of the week!

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Justine at Full Hands, Full Heart
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Tina at Go Big or Go Home | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Whitney at Polka-Dotty Place | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

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An InLinkz Link-up

Save or Splurge: Spring Clothes

I have found some really cute things for the kids this Spring and wanted to share them with you today.  We are headed on a trip for Spring break so I had to stock up our warmer weather/Spring wardrobe a little earlier than usual.  

Once Upon A Child:

I am fairly new to shopping at this store.  I'm thankful to have one in my city, but it's easy to get overwhelmed in a store packed full of kid's things.  I like to try to go without the kids so I can dig for the best items.  Our local store also has an instagram account so they'll post new things there.  I saw this dress and knew Olive had to have it!  It was $4.50 and it's so sweet.  It's a size bigger than her current size so I'm hoping she'll get to wear it for several seasons.

Sams:

Sams has stocked their baby section with the cutest Spring/Summer things for under $6 each.  I loe this striped outfit and think I'll have Fletcher's one year pictures taken in it and this crab outfit seemed perfect for the ocean.

Target:

A couple of weeks ago Target cartwheel was offering an extra 20% off clothes for the family so I picked up a few things for the kids.  Olive saw this dress on the rack and had to have it.  She said it was beautiful and would be perfect for her.  It was less than $10 so I agreed.  I love dressing Fletcher in stripes so this outfit was perfect.  I also love the combo of a collared neck and a soft fabric.

I picked up some summer accessories.  A bucket hat for Fletcher... poor guy has a pretty big head so I found this in the toddler section.  It's reversible and claims to fit sizes 2T-5T and it fits Fletcher great.  I am really hoping he'll wear it.

I've always loved the idea of Natives shoes, but just can't justify spending $30-$40 on kid shoes like that.  So I was thrilled to find these Native knock offs at Target for about $10.  They came in pink and mint and Olive picked pink.  They're so cute on and I think she'll be wearing them all summer long!  I'll happily pay $10 for play shoes :)

I picked up a few dresses at Old Navy for myself for Spring/Summer.  I've yet to wear them so I'll give you a full review of them once I have actually worn them out and about.

I'd love to add some metallic tennis shoes or some cute slip on tennis shoes to my wardrobe this season.

What are you on the hunt for this Spring to add to your wardrobe??

Linking up with Becky for $10 Target Haul today.

Current Faves

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!  Today is one of my favorite holidays so I'm hoping I'll be doing lots of fun green things with my family.  Do you have any fun St. Patrick's Day plans??

I'm excited to share my current favorite things with you today instead of my usual highlights of the week.  I had no problem coming up with my list so I hope you find some new things to try out.  They're all things we LOVE.

Dresses with POCKETS

My MIL got Olive this dress for St. Patrick's Day and she wants to wear it every day.  She's never had a dress with pockets and she's in love.

ST PATRICK'S DAY

I have loved celebrating St. Patrick's Day ever since I got married to my Irish loving husband.  I love having clover plants in our house this time of year, sending out handmade St. Patrick's Day cards and eating all things green.  I opted for rainbow colored salads and shared lots of the treats we made.  My grocery store was stocked with these sweet oversized clover plants for under $4.  Wouldn't they be a fun gift for a teacher, neighbor or friend??

BACKPACKS

I wasn't sure I could get on board with the backpack trend that's happening right now.  I know they're super practical, but I didn't think this was for me until I found this chambray striped backpack at Target recently.  It's so cute!!  It's comfortable to wear and has so many pockets.  It was just under $30 and I picked it up when there was a cartwheel app deal for an extra 20% off.  I know it'll come in handy when we travel, when both kids are walking and I'm chasing after them and I think it'll be something I get a ton of use out of.  Isn't it cute!?!?

SOFT PRETZELS
The $1 soft pretzels at Sams are one of our favorite treats.  We all share one while we stroll around Sams picking up groceries.  They're delicious and it's nice to have something so cheap that we all enjoy - even Fletcher.  I'm also loving that my Sams has stopped asking you to show your member card when you walk in the door.  There is just a greeter to say hello and you go on your way.  I always have my hands and cart full so not having to dig for my card is definitely my favorite.

 CLIMBERS
These two keep me on my toes.  All the time.  And they are my favorite.

ZARBEE'S COUGH SYRUP

A dear friend recommended this cough syrup when I texted her that my kids were up coughing all night long.  I went out to buy it that day and it's the most amazing cough syrup ever.  It's a little pricey, but I think I'd pay double the price for this cough reliever.  It works like magic and takes care of any cough.  You've got to pick some up next time your child is having trouble with a cough.

AVOCADO TOAST

I'm loving having avocado toast for lunches.  I prefer to slice my avocados on toasted wheat bread and then top them with a fried egg.  It's the perfect combo to add some fruit and be full for several hours.

BABY KISSES

Fletcher learned how to give baby kisses recently and it's so sweet and drooly.  He'll give kisses to all of us, but I seem to get the most :)

I hope you have a really great weekend!!

Linking up with ThoughtsforThursday, Oh Hey Friday!

HighFiveforFriday, FiveonFriday, and Momfessionals

Golden Memories

We've been working on some fun craft projects this week.  I'm loving all the rainbows for St. Patrick's Day so I knew I wanted to do some rainbow projects.  I look forward to doing art projects that will be keepsakes to decorate our house with every year.  I try to stock up on blank canvases when they go on sale and then keep them in my craft closet for the holidays.

Foot Print Rainbow:

I like to plan out our crafts in advance so they go smoothly.  I lay out all of the supplies and kind of walk through the whole project before we get started.  I think my teaching days come in handy for things like this :)

You'll need: 

a square canvas 

rainbow colored paint

medium sized paint brush

glitter

wet paper towels

water

Directions:
Start this project with your easiest kid.  For me it meant start with the older kid and alternating colors.  She did great and it was a little more time consuming than other foot print projects just because we were having to wipe her foot completely clean each time to change colors.

Let all of the foot prints dry completely (2-3 hours) and then stamp your next child.

Add white clouds at the end and then cover them in gold glitter.
Let dry overnight.

I surprised Olive with a fun rainbow lunch.  I used all of her favorite foods and she loved it.  She was surprised and then said she wished it was a clover.

And if you want a really easy rainbow colored food item for this week...

snag a bag of these rainbow Air Head treats.  They are berry flavored and they're sooo good!

Hope you're having a great week!!