swim lessons 2013

mommy daughter bonding

i recently celebrated a birthday and spent the day shopping with my special girl.

p.s. she's dressing herself now

star wars origami

on this rainy spring day in seattle, we entered the world of star wars origami. who knew it has a cult like following online? that's jabba, darth, an ewok and yoda for those of you who aren't in the know.

olivia's 2nd birthday

today my darling olivia turned two. olivia is a bundle of energy, full of live and love. she brings so much joy to our home. she is our princess and knows that she has us all wrapped around her little finger. my cup runneth over!

princess Olivia

her first adventure in dress up play!

painted toes

santa 2012

yes I'm that mom. crying santa pictures are a right of passage.

gingie the elf

the kids waking up and discovering that our elf has returned for christmas!

ozzie's 4th birthday party

ozzie celebrated his 4th birthday party with a cowboy theme on a real working farm. just like every other party i host, i love to introduce the theme with the invitations. after finding the perfect cowboy font online, i made these invitations and wrap around mailing labels myself then printed them at my local printing shop. i added red envelopes and  was happy with how they turned out.

the little farm at windwater was the perfect setting for his 4th birthday party. the farm owners gave us full access to the farm allowing the kids to feed the ducks, bunnies, chickens, horses, pigs, goats and sheep. the peacocks happily (and noisily) wandered the farm welcoming our guests. inside the barn, kids held and fed the bunnies and guinea pigs and visited with the horses. these two extremely patient horses gave each child a horse back ride (or three, some took a few extra rides and the owners happily obliged) and posed for a perfect photo opportunity. there were tractor rides, horse shoes and a bull lasso game. 

just like olivia's first birthday, this was a pinterest inspired diy birthday party. i made ozzie a felt applique t-shirt of a sheriff star with the number four on it. the tables were covered in gingham clothes with center pieces of mason jars filled with white daisies that I wrapped with burlap, bandannas, and twine. my friend lent me antique horse shoes that i laid next to the centerpieces and on the buffet table.  each child's place setting had a straw cowboy hat, a red bandanna and sheriff star pin waiting for them to put on while enjoying the party. 

everyone ate from the "chuck wagon menu" on aluminum dishes just like real cowboys. i wrapped forks, knives and spoons in napkins with gingham ribbon. lunch was a buffet of pulled pork sliders with coleslaw, potato salad, fruit salad, hot dogs and chips for the kids, cupcakes and cowboy lassos (licorice). The "watering hole" provided cold drinks to cool off from the sun. i used my silhouette to cut the cup cake toppers of the little cowboy silhouettes and sheriff stars. on a side note, the silhouette is in my opinion the best crafting tool available. i actually made all of the paper banners, signs, die cuts, etc with this awesome machine!

The barn was the perfect place to hang the burlap happy birthday bunting. i made paper mustaches on a stick and my sweet friend brooke provided sheriff stars, pistols and other cowboy photo booth props from her etsy shop little retreats that i scattered on the tables for kids to grab. guests were sent home with a bag of "happy trails mix" as a party favor along with their cowboy gear. 

ozzie is such a happy boy, celebrating his birthday is always a joy and every year i find myself reflecting on how much he has grown. this year i am particularly proud of the young man he is turning into. his care and compassion for his little sister, his desire to cooperate and be helpful, and his ever curious mind with never ending questions fills me with an overwhelming amount of love while completely fascinating me at the same time. children are truly amazing, wonderful little creatures from God. my cup runneth over.

what we are learning now

ozzie wants nothing to do with number and letter recognition. he knows his abc's and can count but refuses to learn what the letters and numbers look like. one evening on pinterest and a light bulb went off- counting with m&m's! of course he cooperated!

miss olivia is learning how to dress herself... sort of.

good read

i really enjoyed reading this article, 10 things i want my daughter to know before she turns 10, that a friend posted on facebook. words every mother could and should share with her young daughter.

day at the park

my mom and i discovered a fantastic park a few blocks from her house the other day. it is always nice to find a new place for the kids to play that is a-close to home and b-not overly crowded with every preschooler and toddler in a 5 mile vicinity. i snapped a few pictures of the kids and made some fun  collages with one of my favorite iphone apps- picframe.

nutella, take me away...

reason number 372 why nutella should not be kept in my home:

at lunch today ozzie decided to eat his turkey meatball soup on the floor after i threatened asked him to eat at the table. he then dumped the bowl on the living room rug forcing me to run into the laundry room for the, properly named, nature's miracle carpet cleaner (it works miracles and is heaven sent). while i was grabbing the cleaner, olivia decided to climb onto the kitchen table and pour ozzie's entire glass of water all over it. she then began to paint the water with her hands and feet in between licks attempting to drink the puddles. i was immediately forced to decide which mess to clean first. i went for the soup since it would stain and stink up the rug. ozzie sees that i don't go for olivia's throat and decides i'm okay with the wading pool now sitting on our kitchen table and decides to help his sister by creating waterfalls of water onto the floor.

after losing my schmidt, getting both messes cleaned up and both kids in their rooms for quiet time/nap time/flat out punishment for unacceptable behavior, do i go for a jog on the treadmill to let off some steam? nope. complete something on my to do list to give me a sense of accomplishment and remind me that there is life outside the gates of hell? nuh uh. i scoop up a gigantic dollop of nutella and melt it over banana slices, sit down on my lap top and begin this blog post. ahhh nutella, take me away....

easter

guess i should get the easter pictures posted before mother's day! every year the community where my parents live put on an easter egg hunt for the kids. it's small, easy, free and the kids get to spend the day with nanay & pepa.

 

cloud dough

thanks to pinterest we have been trying different sensory crafts lately. one ozzie particularly liked was cloud dough or as he called it "snow".

i found this pin for cloud dough but cut the recipe in half, it kept both kids busy while i cooked dinner. actually it was the quietest hour before dinner ever in the history of our family. the hour before dinner is what i like to call our bewitching hour- tired, hungry and sometimes bored kids equals a short ride to crazy town! the cloud dough kept the kids so busy i finished dinner early and had time to snap a few pictures.

the dark side of soy

another good article to reference. read it HERE.

cow, soy, almond, rice... headache...

we suspect that olivia is lactose intolerant. since birth she has been on special formula and soy formulas for colic. recently after her first birthday we switched her to cows milk only to have a fussy, gassy and, well, poopy baby on our hands.

our pediatrician recommends we switch her back to a soy milk but i am having some hesitations. i've heard too many bad things between the soy and estrogen relation that i am worried about blindly going back to soy without doing my research.

i did find an article from the la times that i found interesting and thought i'd share it HERE mainly as a place to bookmark it for myself but hopefully it may be a resource to you as well. and HERE is a graphic breaking down the nutrients in all of the milk options.

a sneak peak

meredith gave us a sneak peak of olivia's first birthday pictures. she has once again worked her magic!