Our little cards of art have been complete for awhile but it's taken me awhile to get the envelopes made and the letters ready to be sent! Erin from House on Hill Road and Blair from Wise Craft created the Kids Artist Trading Card Swap and we were excited to join in the fun! Madelyn, age 8, FlowerPOP Lana, age 6, Sunny Day
The cards need to be sent by February 28th so I'm actually making a deadline...for once. They will be in the mail tomorrow to find their new homes in places as far away as Australia! It's like old school pen pals in art form! How exciting!
Every year for St. Patty's Day, the girls' school hosts a Potato Head contest. We buy a potato to support the library's Write to Read program and then we decorate them to be displayed for a week in the main lobby.
Last year, Madelyn's Potato Princess won 2nd place in the "Most Beautiful" category! She was thrilled!
This year the categories involve Literature and History. Madelyn picked The Cat in the Hat and Lana picked Princess Jasmine. I tried to talk Lana into Ariel the Mermaid because I had cuter ideas but she wouldn't budge! ;)
Here is a picture of The Cat in the Hat on a date with Jasmine.
Can you just taste the corn on the cob..some butter, salt, pepper and a touch of Parmesan cheese sprinkled across the top? Mmmm...barbeque chicken, children giggling in the pool, ice cream melting down little chins, lazy days and restful nights.
I dug out these little guys from the back of my silverware drawer to remind me that warmer days will be here soon.
I've been overly aware of the color yellow in my home this week! Seems to be everywhere! ;)
As I cleaned the playroom last night, I gathered up all those sweet Little People the girls play with and noticed that there were so many lemony yellow heads peeking out of their bin at me.
I made them form a circle for their photo session. Too cute! I can't get enough of all the bright, sunny photos on this yellow Flickr group. Also, don't forget to check out Erin, the creator of this super fun exercise, on House on Hill Road. She posted a very sweet story today for Yellow - Day four.
Day 2 for Yellow Week! I love all products by Burts Bees! They smell delicious, they brighten up our bathroom and they are yellow! My tag-along cat, Jetta, seems to also enjoy them. ;)
Erin from the blog House on Hill Road is hosting Yellow Week! Each day this week I'll be posting a picture!
Who doesn't want some bright, cheery inspiration in their lives during these chilly days of winter? Just look around.. you may be surprised how many yellow moments you could capture in your own home! Check out others who are joining in the fun at Flickr.
Love is bursting down the school doors tomorrow! In order to avoid the inevitable choices of Bratz or Barbie Valentine cards, I decided to make chocolate dipped strawberry marshmallows. I made them into lollipops, put red and pink heart sprinkles on them and then tied on little tags that the girls signed. Now, besides the chocolate-induced headache I feel coming on.. the girls are ready for their Valentine's Day parties tomorrow! Here are some other great card ideas that are unique for your kiddies to gift for Heart Day! ENJOY!
Lana turned 6 yesterday! In Kindergarten, the class sung her the Birthday song and she got to wear the birthday crown for the whole day! Each classmate shook her hand and then gave her birthday wishes! This is huge stuff for a girl turning 6!
Her party was a Fancy Nancy theme! We bought all her decorations online at Celebrate Express. Great site! I think she probably cleaned up on every Fancy Nancy gift that I could find at Target. She loved everything... being the fancy girl that she is! Check out the awesome cake my sister, Hannah, designed and baked for Lana! It was quite a hit! The top layer was vanilla and the bottom was chocolate. She made the hearts and flowers, as well as the crown for the top, out of fondant. It was quite the masterpiece! :)
The butterflies that were fluttering out of the top of the cake were also magnets! Now we can remember Lana's fanciest of days with all those colorful butterflies flying across our refrigerator! Another birthday over..on to Sophia. She'll be turning three in March! Whew!
I spent the twins' nap time creating some cute Thank You's for all the people who helped Madelyn raise money for the American Heart Association's Jump Rope for Heart!
Check them out! I used "dark" chocolate hearts (of course) due to the benefits dark chocolate has on heart health!! When she gets home from school today, I'll have her sign her name at the bottom of the card and they'll be ready! I remember the days of the Jump-Rope-a-thon in my own elementary school. I LOVED that day! She's been very excited about it also! She's been practicing jump rope and trying to learn new tricks! She also told me about all the people that have heart problems in the world that she will be able to help now because of the money she collected.
I'm not sure how far $125 will go...but I did let her know every little bit counts and that she has made a difference.
Here are the cookies my book club and I will be eating tonight. We are reading The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Mmm, mmmm! They are good!! (The cookies AND the book!)
They are White Chocolate Chip Cookies..crunchy with oatmeal, pecans and a hint of cinnamon. Fill up a big glass of milk and get ready because they are coming over tonight!!
(Also, a pat on the back to myself for actually getting a nice picture of them. Well, sorta. Not nice enough to become a food photographer.. but nice enough for a stay-at-home mom with a crappy camera.)
Sophia and I were reading I Spy books today! After about a thousand times of reading the same books over and over, she has them memorized. Before the words, "Where's the.." spill from my mouth, she's pointing to the picture and smiling.
So, I created my own I Spy picture and made it into a desktop so we have a new game to play...at least for today.
Madelyn turned 8 yesterday! How did my tiny, blue-eyed first-born babe grow up so fast!! Here she is at her 1st birthday party!
We had a Luau theme for her this year! There were leis, a grass table skirt, hibiscus filled plates and cups, a paper parrot hanging from the ceiling, a garland or paper lanterns and tiny palm tree party favors filled with green m&ms. The only thing missing was the warm weather and some Hawaiian music!
How ironic that it snowed steadily all night and we lit a fire in the fireplace to warm up the house! Hehe. :) She had a fantastic day and was so appreciative of all her gifts. With her birthday being so close to Christmas, it’s hard to think of presents for her. There were many thoughtful and thought out gifts. Mom and Dad always love the “consumable” ones!
So after all the planning and purchasing, the cleaning and preparing, the checking and rechecking of everything to make it the perfect day for her.. we had another birthday success! At bedtime, before kissing me good night, she thanked me again for everything and said she had the “best day ever!”
And at the end of a very long, very hectic day... that makes it all worthwhile.
