it's february. hello, jamaica!

well, it is february.

in our house that means birthdays and jamaica.

we took our yearly trip with the husband's family to jamaica and despite many hiccups, we managed to have a great time.

i'll let the pictures do most of the talking but i will just say that this trip involved pools, water slides, sunblock, fevers, tylenol, food, pina coladas, beer, dancing, baths, rain, wind, and more food.

day 1: valentine's day

thanks, grandma, for the matching shirts!

day 2: swimming and fevers

you'd never know by looking at her in pictures below, but lb had a 

fever for several days. we even had her seen by a doctor while

there. she stayed hopped up on tylenol & motrin.

hadley carried sunblock around most of the trip

our nightly ritual of cocktail hour (cocktail 15-minutes) before dinner

many pina coladas were had by these two

day 3: fish feeding and rain

we'd bring bread to feed the fish but hadley

always managed to just feed herself.

 day 4: more rain & wind

thanks, aunt molly, for the matching dresses.

3 of our 5 days in jamaica looked a lot like this:

wordless wednesday

a day of sweets and sweeties

we are pretty lucky that we will be spending valentine's day in jamaica this year. i love that i will be with all three of my sweethearts on that day.

here are some fun, sweet valentine's inspirations found on etsy!

funny moustache valentine's for the class from wonderfully made

red appliqued long-sleeved tee from charlie and sarah

love you appliqued tee also from charlie and sarah

i recently got the girls a few new hair clips/bows from diddlebugs. 

they have lots of sweet ones for the holiday.

my fav: personalized valentine's from brown paper goods

love the pink and white chevron stripes

these fish school valentine's from the pitter patter press are cute too

wordless wednesday

wordless (thursday) wednesday

dirty tables

caroline takes her lunch to school every day. this makes me a very happy mommy.

last year was a lazy year for her and i couldn't get her to bring her lunch at all because she didn't want her lunchbox taking up space in her backpack. pretty pitiful reason to opt to eat gross school cafeteria food if you ask me.  plus, i felt like i had no control over what, or if, she was eating. and was she getting her fruits and veggies in? at her school it isn't mandatory for the children to take both. that is another topic in itself that i will save for another day!

so when she let me start packing a lunch for her again this year, i couldn't wait. i won't lie when i say coming up with a pretty decent lunch that she will eat 5 days a week can be challenging. i think it is a fun, worthwhile challenge though.

everyday her lunch is packed in one of these, a Ziploc divided container that we reuse. then put into one of her cute lunchboxes. i think we are up to 4 now, may be on our way to 5.

her lunch always consists of a sandwich, fruit, veggie, dairy, treat, drink, and napkin. pretty simple process for the most part. i love simple, that's for sure.

one of the reasons i like packing her lunch in these containers is that she can eat right out of them, without having to lay her food on the germy cafeteria tables. ewwww! so how great is this idea, a place mat lunchbox from my sweet muffin! i thought it was a pretty smart idea in a very cute box.

i am back to blogging

i've been away for far too long!

the holidays and many sicknesses have definitely kept me busy but as always, i am just going to pick up as if i've never been gone.

the zoo. we are members. we love to go!

this past visit we really just skipped the animals and mainly did the park, train, and rock wall. caroline is so brave and has no fear! that makes me pretty proud as a parent. i am sure everyone knows she gets her thrill-seeking gene from phil.

and if there is ever any question about just how good caroline is with hadley, and if she enjoys being a big sister, the last two pictures will give you an answer.