An Easy-To-Make Valentine's Day Snack Board Everyone will LOVE

I received Love Corn for free from Moms Meet to use and post my honest opinions. Compensation for this post was provided and this page may contain affiliate links.

It's Valentine's Day Weekend, and we are here for it! Just like every pandemic holiday over the past year, we don't have big plans, but we do everything we can to make the holiday special at home. Tonight, we're having a Valentine's Day themed dinner with our very small quarantine crew, and this AMAZING Valentine's Day Snack Board will be making an appearance!

I have been a fan of charcuterie boards for a while, and I finally upgraded our tiny board to a large tray. It holds so much more, which is essential for a big family, and it doesn't spill when I'm carrying it to the table. Heart-shaped pizza and heart-shaped pasta is on the menu this weekend, but who doesn't love a snack board full of sweets?!? I did throw a few good-for-you snacks into the mix, because balance is everything! 

This is my first attempt at a snack board full of sweets, and I think everyone is going to love it. Typically I fill the snack board full of healthy foods and snacks, but special occasions call for special treats. Too much sweetness isn't always a good thing, so I had to add in some delicious salty snacks for variety. I can't wait to dig in, and I know my kids are going to flip over it, so I think it's going to be a huge hit!

SWOOC Games - Supporting Small Shops

*I received product in exchange for my honest opinion.

Welcome to my new Supporting Small Shops blog series! I love supporting small shops and companies, and it's more important now than ever before. I already have a few great shops lined up for the series, as well as some fun upcoming giveaways, so stay tuned!

This idea has been going through my mind for a few years, but I just haven't taken the time to implement it until now. Most of the products I review never make it to the blog. I only share things I genuinely love and would recommend here, but most of the time they get added to a roundup post. I'm so excited to share more of the small shops I love!

Today, I'm kicking off the series with SWOOC games. I worked with SWOOC Games years ago, and I was so impressed by the quality of their product. We had so much fun playing Yardzee over the years, so I was excited when they reached out to me to ask if we wanted to review another game. Of course, I immediately said yes, because it is a company I proudly stand behind and recommend to others!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

One week of December is already behind us, and we have been busy! We decorated every nook and cranny for Christmas, we welcomed our elf back into our home, and we went to see zoo lights. Every December weekend ahead of us is full of Christmas fun, and we are thoroughly enjoying this season!

Each year, we try to put up our main Christmas tree on Black Friday, then decorate it within the next few days. Some years, real life gets in the way, and it gets put off a bit longer, but we managed to stick with our plan this year. The tree was up on Black Friday, fully lit on Saturday after fixing some light issues (I will never buy prelit again), and decorated on Sunday!

Decorating our tree is one of our favorite family Christmas traditions. We always work together to get it done, then get to enjoy our hard work for the next month and a half. There is nothing like the glow of a Christmas Tree to make our home feel happier and cozier. That's probably why we have one in every room!

Scenes from the 4th of July

The 4th of July is one of our favorite holidays! Due to current circumstances in our country, however, we weren't able to fully celebrate the day like we usually do. We tried our hardest to make the day as normal as possible for our kids during this very abnormal time period! 

This 4th of July, there was no pool to swim in or parade to go to. We were unable to have a big picnic. Masks accessorized our traditional red, white, and blue. The day certainly lacked its usual oomph, but we still had fun! 

We were able to enjoy a long 4 day weekend. We enjoyed sleeping in and staying up really late. It was hot - SO HOT - but we spent hours outdoors. We laughed, we played, we ate, and we were together. The 4th of July ended up feeling like an ordinary Summer day at home...just with fireworks!

The End of the Decade: What a Difference 10 Years Make

Happy 2020, my friends! I can't believe an entire decade flew by in the blink of an eye, and we're already starting a new one. In 2010, when this past decade began, we just had two children. We celebrated the end of the decade with five children. What a difference from start to finish!

My family celebrated the end of the decade with some of our closest friends, and we rang in the new year together. When you have five children, it's really hard to get away, so our party was VERY kid-friendly, and we had 4 extra children sleep over. Every so often I miss the fancy New Year's Eve celebrations we attended before we had children, but honestly, there's no place I would rather be than surrounded by those I love most! We had a lot of fun, and put together a time capsule that we're going to open in 2030!

To document the end of the decade and the start of a new one, I wanted to share a little timeline of how our story flowed over 10 years. I never imagined these chapters, but the unexpected chapters are the most beautiful ones in our story. We grew so much over the course of a decade!

Family Fun & STEAM in Pittsburgh at MuseumLab

This post is brought to you by The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.

When I was a child, my dad used to take me to The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. I LOVED visiting a museum that felt like it was built just for me! Years after I grew up, I visited my favorite museum with my first baby. I vividly remember the excitement I felt when I took him there for the first time. It was as if I was sharing a piece of my history with him. There have been four more first visits since then, but it never gets old!

My first baby is nearly 15 years old, my last baby is 6 months old, and we have a tween, an 8 year old, and a 6 year old, who has a developmental delay, in between. We have kids in every stage of development, and it's difficult to find a place to visit that they all enjoy. Thanks to a great new addition to The Children's Museum, it's now a perfect spot for my entire family!

In April of this year, The Children's Museum added MuseumLab, which is located next door. It was created to grow along with families, and is specifically geared toward kids over the age of 10 and adults, but is great for multi-age families like mine. It is a STEAM-lover's dream spot, and inspires kids to use their minds and be creative while having a LOT of fun! 

Our Five Ring Circus Takes On The Water Steps

On Friday, we headed back into Pittsburgh for another afternoon of fun! We originally planned to visit the Carnegie Museum or Carnegie Science Center, but it was such a beautiful day, that we wanted to spend it outdoors. Grant has never been able to join us at The Water Steps at the North Shore Riverfront Park, so we decided that would be a great family outing for the day!

The Water Steps look like a beautiful piece of natural art, but it's actually a popular spot in the Summer. It's like a huge, interactive fountain! This multi-tier wading spot is a combination of waterfalls cascading over the rocks, and shallow wading pools on each level. Kids can cool down by wading through the water, and even adults and dogs, who are walking or biking along the Riverfront trail, take advantage of this fun, free spot!

I always tell people that the Water Steps are a hidden gem in Pittsburgh. My kids can easily spend hours playing on them, and they are always so excited when I tell them we will be spending the day there. This time, we were so excited to have Grant with us on our mini Pittsburgh staycation!

Our Five Ring Circus Explores The National Aviary

Last week, during Grant's birthday week, our family enjoyed a mini staycation. Grant took three days off, and we decided to take advantage of all the fun things Pittsburgh has to offer! One of the things on our agenda was to visit The National Aviary!

I think the last time we visited The National Aviary was when Dylan was the same age as Coen! Our family has a lot going on with a teenager, tween, (almost) 8 year old, a child who has Down syndrome, and a new baby, but it doesn't stop us from going places and having fun. We just learned to avoid jam-packed itineraries, and stick with short trips. It keeps everyone happy, and we're able to (mostly) avoide meltdowns! The Aviary is one of Pittsburgh's gems, and it's perfect for a short family visit!

The National Aviary houses 500+ birds of many different species from around the world. The live exhibits are beautiful, and there is an abundance of information to explore. They also have fun shows to see, and a variety of bird feedings. Grant and I decided we could easily spend an entire day visiting the Aviary on our own, but there was still plenty for our kids to see and do! We had a fun afternoon getting up close and personal with over 150 unique species of birds!

Myrtle Beach Family Vacation - Reminiscing About The Last Day

It has been almost one full year since our last family vacation. If you have been following along for a while, you already know it was a big one. While we were in Myrtle Beach, we found out we were expecting baby #5! And the rest is history...

My final Myrtle Beach family vacation recap got lost in my drafts folder during those 9 very long months of morning sickness, and those exhausting early days with a newborn. Because I tend to be very particular about some things, I can't just leave it hanging around in there. I have to finish my recap, or else it will bug me until I do!

Right now seemed like a good time to recap, and I found myself reminiscing as I finished writing this post. Sadly, we're not going to the beach this year, and it's my happy place. I'm very bummed (my husband and kids are, too), but traveling that far this year was going to be very tough. It's a combination of adulting, and having a new baby who DESPISES the car.

Every so often I want to say let's just do it, then I imagine being tethered by a breastfed baby who likes to eat all the time, while my 5 year old runs in the opposite direction toward danger, and I change my mind. Plus, 8-12 hours each way of Coen screaming would be rough. But I want to - I really want to - and if we didn't have to get a new SUV or pay for some home repairs, I would go anyway. So I'm just going to look through all of these pictures when I feel a longing for the beach, and count down the time until we can go back. (But not too fast, because my kids need to slow their grow!)

Here's what we did on the last day of our Myrtle Beach vacation, and on our trip home...

I'm BACK!!! / Easter 2019 / Baby's First Easter

Hello, friends! I'm (hopefully) back for good! I had no idea adjusting to life with five kids was going to be so difficult and time-consuming. Adjusting to life with 1, 2, 3, and 4 kids (even with a surprise Down syndrome diagnosis) was a breeze, but 5 is the number that did us in! Liam is approximately 10 kids in 1, and Coen has acid reflux and is such a mama's boy that my husband lovingly refers to him as my little parasite. My hands are never free, but I think I'm getting the hang of things, and I'm kicking off my return to blogging with a quick recap of Easter 2019!

This year, we kept Easter simple. We had no idea that Coen had acid reflux yet, so he was really fussy. We decided to spend most of Easter at home, focusing on family activities. Although it didn't feel quite the same, we had a nice holiday!

This year, we took the focus off of the Easter Bunny. We haven't visited the Easter Bunny in years, and this year we didn't do any egg hunts, either. We briefly mentioned the Easter Bunny bringing baskets, but that was it. Instead, we dyed Easter Eggs together. We had a small family dinner. We talked about the reason we were celebrating. We baked and decorated cookies. We sat down to watch The Ten Commandments together. Perhaps next year we'll actually make it to church, but this year, I decided to let go of the guilt, realize that we can't possibly do it all, and focus on WHY we were celebrating in the first place! And you know what? Once the pressure was off, it was GOOD!

Liam and the Very Special Arts Exhibit

Liam is 4th in the lineup of five kids. With three older siblings, he is always coming along to support them during their many activities, sports, and school events. Now that Liam is in Kindergarten, he has his OWN activities and school events, and it's our turn to support him!

This year, Liam's art teacher submitted his Kindergarten artwork to the Very Special Arts Exhibit. It  is currently on exhibit at Grove City College's Pew Fine Arts Center until April 17th, with artwork from other K-12 students in three counties. Very Special Arts is an international organization on arts and disability, and provides arts and educational opportunities for people with disabilities, while helping increase the access to art for everyone.

On Saturday, they hosted a reception for all the young artists who had artwork on display. It was a fun event, and such a special day for our sweet Liam!

Happy 12th Birthday, Lexie!

On Friday, February 22nd, Lexie celebrated her 12th Birthday! I started this blog when Lexie was just 18 months old. Back then it was just Lexie Loo & Dylan Too! The blog has grown quite a bit since then, and a few of my regular readers have been around since the very beginning. The years went by so quickly, and now we're just one short year away from having another teenager! 

Lexie had a great birthday this year, and was very relieved that I didn't go into labor on her big day! We allow our kids to have one "cheat day" to miss school each year, and Lexie chose to skip on her birthday. Grant worked from home for a half a day, so the day was all about her, and it was extra special!

Here is Lexie's yearly photoshoot, yearly interview (which she filled out on her own), and how we celebrated her big day!

Life With Four Littles: Weekly Recap

Life with four littles - or rather, a teen, a tween, and two littles - is always interesting. There is never a dull moment, and in just a few weeks, we'll be adding a newborn to the mix! It seems like baby boy is taking after his brothers, and wants to join the family early. Although our 5th and final baby isn't due until March 14th, I think he's going to be joining us in February...especially after the events of the past few days!

Although it's true that there's never a dull moment, this was a calmer than usual week for us. A pulled abdominal muscle and pregnancy progression forced us - or at least ME - to slow down for a few days. Because of that, this just might be our most boring week yet, which is evidenced by the lack of pictures that I took!

Here's a glimpse at life with four littles last week...

Big Family Life Lately

Happy Monday! Another January week flew by in our usual whirlwind of chaos and busyness. It's hard to believe we're rapidly approaching the end of the first month of 2019!

We're currently enjoying our second three day weekend in a row. I could REALLY get used to these! I had high hopes to post more to the blog this week, but four kids, pregnancy, and a cold took up most of my time and energy. I have a drafts folder full of almost finished posts, so I hope to get those posted this week. I also hope to pull out my real camera more often this week, because I only took a few pictures over the past week. I'm beginning to think that the constant busyness of my family just isn't going to change!

Here's a glimpse of life over the past week...

2018 - Oh What A Year!

It's the last day of 2018, and I can't help but remininisce! Just like any other year, it had its ups and downs, but for the most part, it was a great year for my family. I know I say it every single year at this time, but this year FLEW BY! 

Sometimes it's so easy to get stuck on what went wrong during the year, but I choose to focus on the positive. We ended the year with everybody we love still in our lives, so that's an instant win! Yes, there were difficult moments, but the year was filled with so much love, happiness, and lasting memories! 2018 was an exciting year for us. Not only did we add a puppy to our family, but we found out we were expecting one more baby...SURPRISE!

Here are the biggest moments of 2018...

A Christmas Breakfast and Elf on the Shelf Adventures

At the beginning of December, our Elf on the Shelf returned from the North Pole, and surprised our kids with a Christmas Breakfast! Our Elf, Christopher, has been a part of our Christmas traditions since he arrived a few years ago. Although our kids know the reason for the season, and focus on giving, our Elf adds a bit more fun and excitement to the weeks leading up to Christmas!

This year, our Elf arrived on the evening of December 1st, and set up a Christmas Breakfast for our kids to wake up to the following morning. The North Pole Breakfast is one of our more recent traditions, and the kids always enjoy it. This year, we were down one kid, but next year there will be another seat filled at our table! (We're running out of room!) Since then, our Elf has been entertaining our family each day with his Elf-ish Adventures!

Sweet November - A Photo Recap

I said it before, but November went by ridiculously fast! Then again, that's every month these days. The truth is, the more kids you have, the busier life is, and the faster the months (and years) go by!

November was filled with so many sweet everyday moments, but we also celebrated Dylan's birthday and Thanksgiving, had many school events (which ended up on my smartphone's camera roll), Dylan started basketball, and we kicked off the holiday season! Because our December has been so busy, I've only been able to blog once a week, so I figured a short and sweet life lately post was the way to go!

Here's a glimpse at life in November...

Christmas Bucket List for Big Families

Only FOURTEEN days until Christmas! December flies by faster with each passing year. We have a Christmas Bucket List, and we're checking off as many things as we possibly can, but I still feel like we're rapidly running out of time! 

Although we would love to accomplish everything and go to so many more events than we already do, there simply isn't enough time or money for a family this big. Perhaps it's because I'm pregnant with baby #5, and still struggling with morning sickness, but this year, I'm all about simplifying things. This year, we narrowed it down to our most favorite traditions of all!

Christmas Tree Decorating Tradition

Happy December! Only THREE weeks until Christmas! Where has time gone?!? Our house is mostly decked, our elf is back, we visited Santa, we're already checking items off of our Christmas Bucket List, and shopping has commenced. This year, I'm determined to ENJOY the season, rather than be stressed the entire month!

We kicked off the Christmas season on Black Friday this year, by setting up our tree. Most of our crew was at sleepovers, so we didn't get to decorate it until a few days later. It was definitely nice to enjoy the lights from the Christmas Tree so early this year!

Our first Christmas Tradition each year is to have a Family Christmas Tree Decorating Night. Although I spent the entire weekend following Thanksgiving decorating our house, we all gathered on November 26th for one of our favorite traditions. We started to celebrate Christmas together by putting up our Christmas Tree!

Family Pictures On The Beach & The Myrtle Beach Boardwalk

Our 6th day at Myrtle Beach was busy and fun! I take our family pictures every year on the beach, and it has become our tradition. We usually wait until the last day for our mini photo session, and end up scrambling to get them done, so we decided to move it up a day this year. It was a great decision! The session was still rushed as the light was fading, because I didn't realize how far of a walk down the boardwalk it was to our chosen spot, but I love how they turned out!

It was so hard to narrow down the 500+ pictures I took on day six, but I managed (somewhat). Now I know which pictures I want to print out for the Family Beach Pictures Gallery Wall that I have planned. (Yet another project to add to my mile-long to do list!)

Although most of the pictures are from our family photoshoot, I also wanted to share a few fun moments from our day at the pool and on the boardwalk!