At my mom’s previous job, she would travel a lot for work. She would go to Pigeon Forge often, and one of her favorite places is The Chop House. So on our trip back last summer, we ate dinner there one evening.
Daily Routine Charts
Mornings (and evenings) can be quite the battle with Melody. So last year I created some daily routine charts to try and help keep Melody on track. It worked most of the time. To be honest, we don’t use it much anymore. But we did find it helpful at the time. At the bottom you can find printable ones as well.
Doll Clothes Storage Idea
A big problem area in our playroom is the amount of toys Melody has and her inability to really find all the things. One of those things would be all of her American Girl doll clothes. She has a bitty baby, all of the WellieWishers, and a TrulyMe doll. With all those dolls comes a lot of clothes. And she rarely change their clothes because she has trouble finding all their outfits. And when she did find the outfit she was looking for, all the others were left in the floor. So I started researching ways to better store the clothes. Here is what I came up with!
Doc McStuffins Party Planning
For Melody’s 6th birthday party, I made a LOT of lists to help me keep up with all the things. Lists sometimes are my best friend, and when it comes to planning an event, they are super helpful. My lists vary from what is needed on each table, general decor, what is needed for each item (think invites, favors, etc.), and to do lists. My to do lists are done in two steps. One - I make a general list. Two - I take said list and organize it by ideal date that it needs to be completed. This then gives me a good idea on how I am going to complete all the things.
Valentine's Day 2023
We always keep Valentine’s Day low-key. That has been what we have done even when Brad and I were just dating. This year was no different!
Little Pumpkin Cake Topper
My best friend’s baby shower was a pumpkin theme since it happened in October. Her favorite cake is red velvet, so I decided to do that since it kind of had the fall look with the colors. I ordered from our favorite bakery, Edgar’s. I wanted a cute cake topper, so I decided to just make one myself. I found a cute font, and incorporated a pumpkin with it. I had orange and gold glitter cardstock that I used to make it with. Then I attached the topper to toothpicks. It wasn’t the most stable topper, but it held up the entire party, and I think it turned out cute!
Bridal Shower Flower Bar
The theme for my cousin’s bridal shower was “miss to mrs.” Her maid of honor has her own floral shop, and she did the flowers for Ashley’s wedding as well as the ones for her shower. One thing Ashley wanted was a bouquet bar. So her maid of honor made that happen!
Sweet Frogs
Back in May and June of 2022, we went to Pigeon Forge to visit Dollywood. During our trip, we found a cute ice cream/coffee shop on our daily drive to Dollywood from our cabin in Sevierville. The ice cream portion is called Sweet Frogs. It is a traditional FroYo place. But connected to it was a coffee named Smoky Mountain Espresso. It is located on Veterans Boulevard connecting Sevierville to Pigeon Forge. They did have a drive thru, but we went in each time. We literally visited daily. I loved that they had a dole whip flavor!
Gator's Dockside
When we went on our cruise back in April of 2022, we stayed the night before at Homewood Suites in Cape Canaveral. We arrived early enough that we decided to wait and eat nearby. Unfortunately a few places closed early that night, but we stumbled upon Gator’s Dockside.
Homewood Suites Cape Canaveral
When we went on our cruise in April 2022, we decided to stay near the cruise terminal to make the morning easier. My mom had went on a cruise the month before, and I they stayed at the Homewood Suites in Cape Canaveral. It was literally less than 5 minutes to the terminal. The room itself was great and spacious. And the free breakfast the next morning was also nice. I highly recommend it if you are taking a cruise out of Port Canaveral.
Doc McStuffins Invitations
For Melody’s 6th birthday party, we did a Doc McStuffins theme. I love to make unique innovations. And I thought the perfect invite would come in the form of a doctor’s bag!
Pumpkin Baby Shower Decor
My best friends baby shower was a pumpkin themed shower. Since her shower was in October, it was such an easy theme. It was also super easy to decorate for too!
My 37th Birthday
A few weeks ago, I celebrated my 37th birthday. Honestly, there were moments of the last year that I thought I was already 37, ha. But regardless of my age we had fun celebrating!
January 2023 Fun
January was quite the month! The first month of the year is full of resolutions, goals and hopes. And while we have goals for sure, I don’t know that any of them “began” January 1st, ha. And January 3rd had different plans too. It was the first day back to school for the kiddos. We were supposed to have bad weather, so they were dismissed at 11 am. Well within Melody being home 30 minutes, we had what we think was a small tornado come through. I could see the trees spinning and a loud roar, so I grabbed Melody and ran to our foyer closet. No sooner than I got Melody inside, I could hear glass breaking. A tree branch broke through Melody’s bedroom window. Whew, not how we wanted to start the year!
Dalmatian Shirt
For Melody’s 101st day of school, all of the 1st graders all dressed as Dalmatian clothing. I decided to make Melody a shirt and scrunchies. I feel like it ended up more like a cow, but everyone said it worked!
Bridal Shower Time Capsule
At my cousin’s bridal shower, we did a time capsule as her “guestbook”. The theme for the shower was miss to mrs., so we kept it simple. Her maid of honor brought a large jar to store them in as well as made a sign. Then I made the actual cards for everyone to sign. I included a copy below without a logo if you want to use it yourself. On their first wedding anniversary, they will look at all of them!
Cheerville Party Place
Yes, it is January, and I am still posting about Melody’s 6th birthday party from back in May. I am super behind on posting all kinds of content. Such is the season of life I am in! So for Melody’s birthday, we decided to have it somewhere new. We always have it at home, but Melody did not want that. It was probably a good thing since she wanted to invite her entire class. Through another blog, I found a place called Cheerville Party Place. The price is a steal, the location is good, and you can have an unlimited number of guests which is ideal.
Pumpkin Baby Shower Favors
When hosting my best friend’s baby shower back in October, the theme was easy…pumpkins! But when it came to favors, I wanted something edible, easy to make, and cute! Well she LOVES candy corn and peanuts, so I thought it would be a fun favor to make!
Carnival Liberty
As I have mentioned in previous posts, my mom and I took a cruise back in April 2022. We decided to try the Carnival Liberty cruise ship. It offered the best price, and we really liked the idea of getting to go to a private island. It wasn’t Half Moon Cay, but it was still somewhere private and fun. So now I want to share all about the ship!
Fall Break Day Four
We went to Pigeon Forge this year for fall break. Brad was unfortunately traveling for work. So we made it a girls trip including my mom. We found a good deal on a fun hotel, and we used our season passes for Dollywood to give us some additional fun. Emily’s family also was there for a part of a trip giving Melody someone to play with at times. We had a lot of fun, and I have a lot to share! Here is day four!