book on tape

she loves books!
(I love that she loves them)
I put a cd in one day and gave her the book to look at as the story was read
she sat for the entire story on that little green stool, listening intently...and once it was over
she asked to hear it again, and again

Click it, Rip it, Roll it, Thread it....

in my never ending search for toys that inspire imagination or promote and strengthen skills
that don't make noise or flash lights I stumbled upon this toy on Etsy (I love etsy have I mentioned that before?)
She spent a long time exploring it, squeels of laughter as she discoverd yet another thing. A very simply concept and yet it provided hours of fun, exploration, and challenge. Daily she is playing with it... A win in my book. This is where I found it, in case you want one for your little one.

Play-Dough

she poked and cut and squished it
she pounded and stacked and smushed it
thankfully there is one thing she didn't do...
and that was eat it!

Danceline Extravaganza!

It has been a few years since I had a daughter on the team...
the little girls have participated each year as part of the mini saintette's
and this is something they look forward to each year.
This year a new dance, which included the alumni....which means I had
three daughters performing, so cool to watch, so awed by the talent and energy
shown by all the performers. A fun, exciting, exhausting evening...as is evident by the
photo of Yahaira with me, that was after we had returned home where obviously a photo was
the last thing needed and instead a pillow and her bed were the things she needed.

working on valentines...

the girls were busy working on their valentine's for school
this weekend, there was cutting (well actually the cricut did most of that) and
gluing, ribbon and staples and of course the most important thing of all
writing your name, again and again and again!

Fairy Dome...

a gift she received for Christmas...that we finally got around to planting.
playing in dirt and mixing in water is certainly a guarantee for a fun time.
She planted 4 types of seeds, truly hoping that at least one sprouts.
after watering her newly planted seeds she placed the fairy and put the dome cover on...
she checks on it multiple times a day, waiting oh so patiently for that first sprout to appear.
expect updates as the plants begin to grow, it is rather exciting to have something green and growing amidst all the whiteness
that is outside our windows.

Fw: The perfect end to a long week

Etsy love...

 I love Etsy! love it!
discovered this amazing site a few years ago and quickly became a fan.  All handmade goodness, created by those who love their craft.  Where natural and eco friendly are common terms right along with handmade and unique, one of a kind.  Where kid friendly toys are packaged in a box, not tons of plastic and annoying fasteners.  Where adorable, cute,  and beautiful work together to describe an outfit. 
Searching is as much fun as finding the perfectly unique item.  Where I can spend hours browsing and not buy a thing but come away feeling inspired and awed.  so here is a few of the etsy shops I have stumbled across, and no I don't receive anything for saying these shops rock and are simply amazing...


http://www.etsy.com/shop/raechelmyers  

where I purchased these for the youngest little one in our house...beautiful no?

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MamaMayI
a little shop that I spent hours browsing the other night (yes sometimes my lack of sleep hours is due in large part to etsy)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/JLPerillo
if the sheer adorableness of these shoes didn't capture me, the very hungry caterpillar version certainly did.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/hollywo6?ref=seller_info
a place I just simply need to stay far away from...just too much cuteness.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/LollysSewingRoom
guess you may recognize an outfit from a previous post, this would be the place I found that adorable birthday outfit.


http://www.etsy.com/shop/TimeforTots
i have purchased a few of these sets and the daycare kids love them!


http://www.etsy.com/shop/thelittleLOVEbug
love their play food sets.


http://www.etsy.com/shop/dreamchildstudio
just a whole lot of fun,imaginative kid friendly toys.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/creativeadb
those trees just make me smile, there is a room in my house that needs one of those.


http://www.etsy.com/shop/PixelPerfection?ref=seller_info


http://www.etsy.com/shop/SimplySentimental
love her paper piecing's!

enjoy!

soon to be 2

had to wait for her to wake from her nap to take these...
and I think she agrees it looks adorable.

someone....

will be turning two in a few months...
this arrived in the mail today.
yes you could I am planning waaayyyy ahead, but
it will be here before I know it.
the theme this year? gumballs!
all sorts of ideas floating around in my head
can't wait to start creating and crafting them.

decorating cookies

an afternoon project...an attempt to fill these long winter days with
fun, creative activities.
this one was certainly a success!

what -22

looks like...that is the actual temp no wind chill factored in, figure the windchill in and that takes us to -33
what? it doesn't look so bad, so what tropical part of the world are you hanging out in?
what the temp doesn't show is the numbing cold, the take your breath away frozenness that the first breath brings.
the fact that moments in this makes your coat crack and has your body wondering if it will too. If your eyes were to water from the sheer coldness the tears would freeze before they could make it down your face.
Boiling water will freeze in seconds (yes it really does, been there, done that)
Blowing bubbles results in tiny, perfectly clear balls that when caught on a piece of paper will roll and and entertain, have you ever caught a bubble before (yeah, they have that pesky little thing of popping on contact)
school was two hours late today, not because of snow, or blowing winds but simply due to the temp.
This stuff is not fun, where glancing out the window causes shivers simply because you know what waits, where cars and people groan at the thought of moving in this stuff, where kids still ask if they could go play outside. (ummm that was a no)

waiting for the bus

Rosie and Trenton ride the TMT bus to preschool
this morning the bus was late and so they decided to be comfortable while they waited...
reyna joined them in their sitting wait. Where she continued to sit munching on her cereal long after they left
(no idea what she was waiting for)
and yes those are orange socks with that perfectly pink outfit. apparently in her world they match because after putting the pink socks on three times I finally put these on and there they stayed for the rest of the day.

buttermilk biscuits...

a first for me...making these from scratch
(not eating them of course :)
love, love, love the Pioneer Women and her amazing recipes
did I mention they are amazing?
here is the link to her blog go visit and then you can drool over her recipes too.
(I actually linked it too the recipe section but if you want to check out any of the other sections at the top there are
buttons to take you there, you're welcome.)

go to bed...

to which she said
"I can't"
"why not?" I asked
"I'm scared" she said
"of what" I wondered
"the dark" was her first response
oh trust me she has a wealth of reasons in her store in her nightly quest to not have to sleep in "her" bed
I turned her night light on and once again said good night
she sat at the top of the step and fake cried
I walked by and suggested she would be more comfortable laying down
apparently she agreed...
not quite what I meant (the in your bed part was missed by her)
she is asleep on the step
of course I moved her, thinking it couldn't possible be comfortable sleeping in such a way....
I should have known it would just be a hit repeat and start all over again type of night.
she did eventually go to sleep in her bed, sorta
but woke in my bed this morning...
no, I'm not exactly sure how this happens

piercing her ears

she has wanted to for awhile...
but I said she had to wait until she was in 1st grade.
She had a gift card to Claire's from Christmas and I asked if she wanted to use
it to get her ears pierced to which she responded with a very excited yes!
Saturday her big sisters Beckie and Cassandra took her to the mall to do this
and discovered they couldn't that a parent had to accompany her.
So Sunday was the day since her father was along this time...they said she paused for a few moments before it sunk in that
perhaps that hurt and then the tears flowed...and the drama
cuz' this one is a master at drama
by the time she arrived home she was fine and quite excited about those new earrings in her ears.

the view

out my window...
it is rather hard to find the beauty in all.that.snow.
even if I squint my eyes and tilt my head, it still doesn't look beautiful
or appealing or exciting.
rather tired of the drifts upon drifts of snow outside my window
pretty tired of the color white just now too.
spring can not arrive soon enough...

she believes

that if she can't see me....
then I most certainly can't see her
and therefore I am oblivious to the mass chaos she is creating
That would be Rosie under that blanket inside that storage tote
plotting her next take over I'm sure.

this

was one of her outfits yesterday.
her favorite was nothing but her diaper.
I should be grateful that she has yet to discover how to remove the diaper
but I'm too distracted trying to put clothing back on the little wonder at this moment.
It is cold here, her toes and fingers were like little ice cubes and yet she didn't seem to notice.

New Year's Eve

an annual tradition...
home made pizza and movies
joined by linda and her family and my dad
all three of the older kids were home for part of the evening
the little ones made their own personal pizza, beckie made one too
watched The Secret of Moonacre, Salt, and Knight and Day
Reyna fell asleep at her usual time of 8 pm. woke at 10:30 and partied until 2 am.
No she didn't sleep in the next morning deciding to begin her new year waking before the sun.
A great night filled with family, friends and laughter...and bonus no need to venture out into that frozen tundra.

year in review

2010