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Christmas Traditions 2019 is a recap of a few of our favorite holiday activities. These are the moments that we will remember for years to come.

2019 Christmas Traditions: Christmas Cards | Family Photos | Matching PJ’s | Santa Photos

These are a few of my favorite Christmas Traditions… Family Photos + Christmas Cards + The Santa Visit + Matching Holiday PJ’s!

SANTA is always a fun visit for us. It is our chance to see who will smile and who will cry. Is it bad that I always (secretly) wish for tears?? Sadly, my dream didn’t come true. Kensie held it together and we are officially the ‘smiley-Santa-photos’ family. Oh well, at least I am thankful for the joy. Don’t get me wrong, Kensie is extremely skeptical of Old St. Nick, but I am sure next year she will be his biggest fan! Payton and Paisley, on the other hand, never wanted to leave his side. It is so sweet to watch their belief shine! Enjoy our Santa visit! Continue Reading

December 19, 2019 by Jenna

2018 Christmas Cards Season is here! This year I partnered with Shutterfly to create the most creative and festive cards around! Here is a sneak peek!

CELEBRATE, CREATE, Holidays

2018 Christmas Cards | With Shutterfly

Shutterfly outdid themselves this year with their amazing 2018 Christmas cards selection.

As you know, we are big Shutterfly fans in this house, and once again I was pleasantly surprised with their adorable cards. Now that we are a family of five, I found that I gravitated towards the card options with more than 4 photo slots, so that I could highlight each of the girls.

This year I found that they really up-ed their game on the total card package. Not only are their card options fabulous, but their envelope liners and pre-addressed envelopes are so creative and colorful! I am all about the feeling you get when you pick-up a card out of your mailbox; the happy mail experience starts with the envelope! Continue Reading

December 18, 2018 by Jenna

CREATE, Family, LIFESTYLE, Mommy Break Features

Baby Love | Creating Birth Announcements with Shutterfly

Our third little girl has joined the family our life has been nonstop ever since! Newborns love attention and want to be held and loved on ALL.THE.TIME. While this time is precious for me, it can be hard to do with two other kiddos running around the house. So my “to-do” list has become more of a “if I can get to it” list. One item on my list that kept getting pushed off was making Kensie’s birth announcements. We had beautiful pictures taken by the fabulous La Brisa Photography. The edited images were back in a jiffy and just waiting for me to make the announcement. In my mind, I thought it would be such a daunting, time consuming task. Which is ridiculous because with Shutterfly, it is such a quick, easy and painless creation! I should have made them sooner.

This post was in collaboration with Shutterfly. (#partner) I received some of these items in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. #MyShutterfly

Shutterfly is so easy to use and their quality and results are fabulous. I am a big fan! I was able to upload my beautiful newborn photos and create a photo card masterpiece in minutes. I was beyond thrilled with their card styles and options, that I actually found it hard to pick a favorite. I decided this time around to do something different and I created two cards to alleviate the pressure of choosing just one. I love that Shutterfly offers the opportunity to make each card your own, with the choice of card layouts, colors and fonts… It really is your own presonalized creation.

I made one card in a tri-fold/multi-sided style to give to my family members that want cuteness overload, and a more traditional 2-sided 6×8 photo card for our friends. Both birth announcements turned out fabulous and we couldn’t be more pleased!

: SHUTTERFLY BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS : Continue Reading

July 9, 2018 by Jenna

Let's teach our kids responsibility, one sticker at a time. I have created an easy to use Sticker Chart + Free Printables to make your mom-life easier!

CREATE, DIY, Printables

Mommy’s Big Helper – Sticker Chart + Free Printables

I don’t know about you, but mornings can be extremely hectic around our house! Now that my oldest daughter is in kindergarten, and a new baby is right around the corner, it’s time she steps up her “help mom out” game a bit more to help manage that chaos of our life! We just started Spring Break and I figured it was the perfect time for her to own a bit more responsibility around the house.

As a momma on the go, our days can be pretty unpredictable, so I decided to use a morning sticker chart to give her a routine. The goal is that she would choose to help out without always being asked or told to do so. Now that she is learning to read, responds well to positive affirmation and loves rewards, a sticker chart was the perfect option for us!

With baby #3 on the way, I am hoping that after 2 weeks of Spring Break, she will have her morning routine down and can carry it on into the rest of the school year, and hopefully create a sense of willingness to be a big helper for me when I’m busy with baby. My other secret goal is that our 3 year old will see her big sister earning stickers and want to join in on the fun too! WINS all around – A mom can dream! (I will keep you posted on the success of this secret goal!)

I created this sticker chart with just a few of the morning tasks that happen every day in our home. These are tasks that she can finish on her own, and she should be able to succeed in and be proud of! As she grows and matures over time, this sticker chart will look a little different. I also left a few bonus spots on the chart to add fun twists to her normal routine… Gotta keep her on her toes! I will keep a folder for her to save her finished charts in, so she can look back on all of the good that she accomplished/stickers received (insert visual affirmation) and if she makes it through each full chart for a whole week I will have a small prize waiting for her at the end (i.e.- new book, markers, candy, etc).

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE STICKER CHART PRINTABLE –> Mommy’s Big Helper Chart

I hope this FREE PRINTABLE CHART comes in handy in your home as well, and our growing littles can begin to do their share and earn their keep. (JK, but seriously – haha!)

March 12, 2018 by Jenna

2017 Christmas Cards Season is here! This year I partnered with Shutterfly to create the most creative and festive cards around! Here is a sneak peek!

CELEBRATE, CREATE, Holidays

2017 Christmas Cards | Shutterfly

December is here so you know what that means… 2017 Christmas Card Season is upon us.

YAY for Happy Mail! 🙂

This year I decided to order our 2017 Christmas Cards through one of our favorite online stationery companies… Shutterfly! If you are a regular here at Espresso Ever After you already know how much I adore partnering with Shutterfly and all of their personalized options; they make beautiful and quality goods for all to love! To tell you the truth, this pregnancy has really slowed me down this year and I am so thankful that I can trust Shutterfly with this aspect of the holiday season. The tired mama in me wanted to skip the photos and the card making, but since Shutterfly was able to help me with the heavy lifting… It was worth it. Their online program is extremely user-friendly and their options this year are unique and creative. As usual I loved so many of them, that I had a hard time narrowing down my favorite card styles.

We went with a bright and colorful look for our photos this year, and I knew I wanted to pick a card that offered a happy and cheerful theme. When I found this 5×7 Gate Fold Card, I knew it was the winner. It offered multiple text areas, different sized photo slots, 2 types of paper styles and a fun flip-open effect. Thank you Shutterfly for always bringing a winner! Continue Reading

December 19, 2017 by Jenna

CELEBRATE, CREATE, Events & Parties, Printables

Family-Friendly HOME-GATING Ideas

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #HostUltimateTailgate #CollectiveBias

Fall means football… and I love fall!

To successfully host a family-friendly home-gating party you need to focus on three main aspects: tasty treats, a kids activity corner & of course team spirit!

September 18, 2017 by Jenna

CREATE, Recipes

Angel Food Ice Cream Cake | It’s Heavenly!

Looking for the coolest dessert to serve for your upcoming summer BBQ or Memorial Day gathering? A dessert that can feed a large group and have your guests begging for more? This simple recipe covers all of those desires, it is easy to make and only requires a few delicious ingredients! And it combines some of what I consider to be dessert staples; cake, ice cream, chocolate and strawberries! What more could you ask for?

This dessert is pure heaven, but don’t just take it from me… Try it for yourself!

May 24, 2017 by Jenna

Family, HOME, LIFESTYLE

Swept Away with bObsweep PetHair

At this stage of life, toddler messes have become a fairly frequent visitor to our home. Day after day, week after week, I find myself constantly sweeping the floors to keep the crumbs and messes minimized in the wake of our toddlers! After considering the ridiculous amounts of time invested into sweeping, I thought I’d give one of those fancy robotic vacuums a try. I decided to go with the bObsweep PetHair, because if it can handle pet hair, it can surely handle the messes of my kids!

Now don’t get me wrong, I was a little skeptical about a robotic vacuum, but the bObsweep PetHair, AKA Bob, swept away my fears. This vacuum has become a lifesaver for me as a mom with two small kiddos at home. Every day I have it cycle through the kitchen, family room, and play room to pick up all of their crumbs and messes from the kids meals and play dough adventures. It is easy to use and oh-so helpful, I can’t believe I didn’t get one sooner!

This post is in partnership with bObsweep. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help make Espresso Ever After possible.

May 2, 2017 by Jenna

CREATE, DIY, HOME

Boxwood Wreath Tutorial | DIY Home Decor

I love having greenery in my home, there is something so refreshing about greenery. I will admit that I do not have much of a green thumb so I am always on the lookout for authentic looking plants and decor without the hassle of keeping a real plant alive. One greenery item that I absolutely adore is the preserved boxwood leaves, especially as wreaths. They look good all the time and they are fun to use as statement decor pieces.

This DIY project came to life when I fell in love with the 11″ Smith & Hawken™ preserved boxwood leaves wreath at Target because it is fabulous! The color is a rich green, it comes with a woven hanger and it looks so real! It inspired me to get creative and do a little DIYing!

I have been wanting to add a fun wreath to my eat-in breakfast nook in my kitchen and this wreath was perfect to work with. So I picked up my wreath and ran over to Michaels to select a roll of ribbon… and got crafty.

Continue Reading

April 17, 2017 by Jenna

CREATE, DIY

Let’s Stay Home | Sincerely Us – Shop Feature

The perfect print can give new life to any space. We have this large wall above our buffet in our kitchen and I have been looking for the right piece to fill the space for quite some time. As you know, picking the perfect statement piece is not that simple; it must be the right size for the wall, must combine all of the styles in the room and since it is the focal point it must be eye catching. After months of searching I fell in love with the Sincerely Us SHOP on Instagram and once I saw this print, I knew it was the perfect addition for our room. It is simple, yet striking and exactly what I was looking for. It displays a saying that speaks us as a family.

March 5, 2017 by Jenna

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