life Archives - Real Life Notes

Head in the Sand: The AHHH we’re moving in a week freak-out

June 16, 2013 by Jill Leave a Comment

We had a crazy week last week. Phil was in New York City for the first week of his new job. Jaye and I stayed with our friends Chris and Laura who live in Austin for the week. We had a lot of adventures (I've got several posts planned!), but it was also a long time to be out of our normal routine. But I also found out while I was out of town that our moving date was suddenly 4 days earlier than I planned. Now, we are back home and in a flurry of packing and last minute preparations for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: life

Sliding Head First

June 6, 2013 by Jill Leave a Comment

That's my Jaye. Always doing the boldest things she can. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: jaye, life Tagged With: going places, gymboree, sliding

Best of the Best: Free Printable Father’s Day Cards, Part 2

June 4, 2013 by Jill 1 Comment

Okay, I'm back. And here is the second half of my 20 Best Free Printable Father's Day cards extravaganza. Find the first 10 free printable Father's Day cards here. 11. Aww. Penguins. Jaye says that penguins say "Flap, Flap Flap" and she flaps her arms. We never taught her that, she made it up. From Orange Kitty. 12. I love the little speech bubbles to make this card more personal and meaningful. From Faithful Provisions. 13. I love the typography on this card. And it's available … [Read more...]

Filed Under: crafts, holiday crafts, holidays Tagged With: free printable

Best of the Best: Free Printable Father’s Day Cards, Part 1

June 3, 2013 by Jill 5 Comments

I decided to find the best free printable Father's Day cards for dear ol' dad because I had so much fun hunting down free printable Mother's Day Cards a month ago--any excuse to browse Pinterest is a good excuse. :-). Along the way, I discovered that there are a LOT more free printable Father's Day cards than there were for Mother's Day. My theory is that all the bloggers making these freebies are women who make cards for their hubbies, but hubbies don't make them for their wives. Come on, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: crafts, holiday crafts, holidays Tagged With: free printable

The Mastiff Drool Solution: Neater Feeder Giveaway

June 2, 2013 by Jill 4 Comments

Shortly after Phil and I got married, we bought a house. Shortly after we bought our first house, we got a dog. Big Margo was her name. She was 160 pounds of adorable, sweet, drooly, messy, English Mastiff. She had her own facebook page. She was awesome. But she was also an incredible mess. Everytime she drank, there would just be streams rivers of drool running down her jowls and onto the floor or whoever was unlucky enough to be nearby. We kept special "Big Margo" towels hanging on hooks in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: life Tagged With: giveaway, Margo

New House Sneak Peek: Focusing on the #GoodLife

May 31, 2013 by Jill 8 Comments

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Allstate. All opinions are 100% mine. So the last post I wrote about how we bought a new house was a little on the negative side. Or maybe a lot on the negative side, as I explained why buying a house is a bad idea. Nevertheless, we, of course, bought a house anyway. Because, really, we aren't going to let all the risks and trouble and expense of buying a home hold us back from it. Of course there are risks when you own a home. But there … [Read more...]

Filed Under: home, home tour, life, sponsored post Tagged With: richardson house

First and Last Day of School

May 31, 2013 by Jill 2 Comments

I just dropped Jaye off for her last day of "school" for the year. She has grown so much. It's incredible. Jaye and I on her first day of Mother's Day Out last September. Such a little baby. And here we are/were this morning. My round little baby is looking like a real little girl now! Cue the mama tears and the "oh they grow up so fast" wistful reminiscing. . . . Okay, enough of that. Time to get busy enjoying my last day of child-free time! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: before and after, jaye, life, parenting Tagged With: first day of school, last day of school, mothers day out

Campbell Green Park: DFW in Review

May 28, 2013 by Jill 6 Comments

Today Jaye and I visited a new (to us!) park in Dallas, and we had a blast. So far, the Campbell Green Park is my favorite park ever! Campbell Green Park Details: Location: Campbell and Hillcrest, map here. Surface material: wood chips Structure material: metal and plastic. Equipment: big kid area, toddler area, climbing walls, many slides, monkey bars, swings, baby swings. Benches and picnic tables free sprayground next door to the park! Paths for biking and sports fields … [Read more...]

Filed Under: dfw review, kids activity, life, parenting, reviews, texas Tagged With: campbell green park, dallas parks