a view out my window

these goldfinches have been hanging out in my backyard for a few weeks now.
It started with one, and now there are many splashes of yellow when I look out the window.
They have become accustomed to the kids watching them and no longer fly away, which provides endless
viewing pleasure for these little people. Love how bright and cheerful they look even on a cloudy, rainy day.

Earth day..

and planting another tree. Anthony brought this tiny tree home last Wednesday,which was Earth Day.
Yesterday in the tree planting frenzy occurring in my yard, this tiny little tree also found a home.
He was pretty excited about the whole process, even when I explained that it was his job to take care of the tree, his excitement
continued until he was carrying the bucket filled with water, with which to water that tree, then his excitement turned to a look of misery. Nah, I didn't explain to him that when I was his age I had to carry water up hill both ways... (I hated when I heard that speech from my parents :) besides his father had already been sharing with him how tuff things were when he was a kid...making the current kids eyes glaze over. He recovered from the comparison and the water carrying. With a smile on his face.

Dance pictures....

good thing I snapped these before we headed to the studio for the formal pictures.
That three year old sporting that smile disappeared as soon as we walked thru the doors.
Pictures were taken, barely. A few nerves were rattled, mine included, but perhaps none as much as the
three year old who was simply overwhelmed with everyone looking at her and shut down. She is now
asleep, slightly traumatized by the whole experience. Yahaira who is a pro at this, simply shined. Completely
comfortable with the entire experience. Thinking being four is a whole lot easier than being three.

planting trees...

last Friday I found a pear tree, which was quickly vetoed...until we turned the corner and discovered apple trees. Not just any apple trees but Honeycrisp apple trees. According to some in my family they are simply the best! apple ever. As quickly as we discovered the trees one made it's way into the cart. Apparently that was an ok purchase. So naturally I pointed out that if one was buying the apple tree than I was going to buy a pear tree. Faced with that logic a pear tree also made it's way into the cart. Today they were planted in our yard...currently they look tiny compared to the other trees but I have faith they will soon be taller than I am, and just think I will also be able to enjoy fresh pears and apples...how cool is that?

snapshot of my living room...

books, always baskets and stacks of books.
the dog bed, that is used just as often by the girls, which causes the dog to pout.
pictures, lots of pictures.
those magnetic animals on the door have provided more entertainment to the kids in the house, big and little than I could have ever imagined.
The temp in my house right now, and that is with the furnace turned off.
and when I find a moment to sit down, this chair and that blanket are my favorite place to curl up.

party planning 101

this would be the assembled supplies (chaos) needed to create the necessary items for a 5 year old birthday party according to me.
In my quest to simplify and go green for this year's birthday parties I decided that we would not fall into the commercial trap that is the latest, greatest, nightmare. Where one walks into a party supply store and many many dollars later walks out with an assortment of party supplies all sporting the current popular theme. Most of which won't survive the party let alone a life after. This year I decided to make the party supplies ( I know what was I thinking?)

here is the invite...adorable no?
and notice not a single Disney character present.
I lost hair, and patience, and brain cells in the creating of this item.

and here would be the party hats, banner, pinwheels, and cupcake toppers.
all handmade, all adorable, all making the resident 4 soon to be 5 year old quite giddy with excitement.
her mother, took more Tylenol than is recommended in a 24 hour period, it only slightly eased the headache.

and this would be the gift bags, they are reusable made from flannel (so green I know) and filled with fun little surprises.
I didn't sew them (I know my limits) grandma Betty did, to which I had to listen to multiple conversations on how easy it was to sew them, and that any dummy could do it (yes she did use those words) sigh, I just swallowed my pride and thanked her profusely for sewing them. Let's not even go into the shopping venture where I went to purchase the material and ended up with 3 times more material than I needed. (the store clerks doing not mine, I admit I'm clueless she said she knew what she was doing, ummm apparently she is clueless too) The color scheme is bright pink and lime green which will be echoed in the cake and cupcakes. (and no I am not making those either, a bakery will be doing that deed, suffice it to say they know what they are doing) My baking ability, especially in the cake department deserves a post all it's own.
and what I have learned undertaking this project?
it would have been simpler to walk into the party supply store, spent an insane amount of money buying those party supplies.
and yet I wouldn't have watched her excitement as each item was created and completed. I wouldn't have shared with her the process of creating and discussing the little parts and pieces of her birthday. It may have been simpler the other route but I would have missed a lot taking it...this way I have endless memories of the time shared preparing for her birthday.

another Etsy discovery....

From this

to this...

In April's spotted box was a card from an etsy store called Elizabear's crayon designs. Attached to the card was an adorable little duck shaped upcycled crayon, too cute. That didn't capture my attention immediately (I've seen crayons shaped into cute shapes often, actually even made a few myself over the years) what did catch my attention was the backside of the card where she featured customized coloring pages made from your photos. So I contacted her, sent a few pics her way and there you go instant coloring wonder. My digital file arrived last night, I printed a few out this morning and can't wait to see the girls reactions to their own personalized coloring sheet. Want to see more? then just go here.

signs of spring

all discovered in my little piece of the world (my yard)
these past few days. Warmer days, filled with sunshine.
Attitudes are better, the air smells fresher.
Smiles abound, life is good.

snapshots of an evening...

6:10 pm
finally I captured a few photos to complete my little "snapshots of" photo series.
these of course are early evening and as you can see only the dog appears to be tired.
(I'm pretty certain there will not be a snapshot of bedtime entry in this series, it would require
participants to actually be asleep at some point, and by the time that occurs I am in no way
capable of capturing that image with my camera) With longer days, outside is where we
spend our early evenings...mix in dinner and of course those never ending dishes and there you go
a peek into our evening. In case you missed those other snapshots you can go here and here.

owies...

she has a total of 10 band aids adorning her body.
those on her knees....are the result of a tumble in the parking lot after church she had to tuff it out until we arrived home since she had depleted the band aid supply in the van on previous boo-boo moments. She has a couple on her elbows and tummy, a nice scrape on the side of her face the list continues and this time they are genuine (often the band aids are covering imaginary owies) It has been a rough week for this little wonder. One could reason this is what happens when you live life fully, racing to meet each and every new experience head on....

22 years ago today...

I became a mom to a son for the first time.

It has been amazing being his mom. Always he amazes me.

He is the calm one, very little rattles him. He has always been this way. Perhaps that is how one survives in house full of women.

It has been a privilege watching him grow and become this person he is today.

So today I simply say Happy Birthday Josh.

being your mom has simply been one of my greatest gifts.

Make a Smilebox greeting

Make a Smilebox greeting

Cascarones

part 2
you may remember this post from awhile back.
Sunday we completed the tradition much to the kids excitement.
They have been asking for days if it was time to break the eggs on peoples heads.
Lots of giggles and smiles as they broke egg after egg.
Thinking I still might have some confetti in my hair, even after showering.

egg hunt

waiting, and waiting some more...
searching and searching...to no avail.
Yahaira even requested her glasses since she was unable to spot any eggs.
after awhile we admitted that we actually had not hid any eggs.
(so mean of us adults I know)
eventually the eggs were hidden and found by those patiently waiting hunters.

it is

always a challenge getting all those faces together in one pic.
one expects those smaller ones to be difficult, those older ones,
well they should simply know that cooperating is simply the easiest
thing.

Happy Easter