Vintage Pretties

Field Trip!

Today was a first for me -- chaperoning a school field trip.  The entire first grade traveled to the Smithsonian American History Museum to coincide with their recent unit on famous Americans.  We first stopped by the Presidents Room (where George Washington & Abraham Lincoln were of particular interest) and then onto the First Lady's Room, where we were required to find Eleanor Roosevelt's inaugural gown (which was surprisingly pretty). We also checked out the White House china, where the girls were pretty impressed by the gold flatware on display (I wish I could remember which administration it was from).


Then, we were free to wander about with our little groups of 2-3 kids.  Here is Hope & another student checking out a real piece of history -- a View Master! 

I was really surprised to see what Hope found interesting -- the First Lady dresses? Nope.  Dumbo from a Disneyland ride? Only OK.  The Star Spangled Banner?  Mommy, can we go back & see it again??!!  I guess that I have a little patriot on my hands.

Valentine's Day

A Valentine's suprise was awaiting Hope at breakfast this morning.  Red & pink place setting, a bucket full of her favorite candies, a handmade card & a heart balloon. 

I think that she was more excited to find it than she was on Christmas morning.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Valentines for Insomniacs

Yesterday morning, I woke up at 5 and couldn't get back to sleep. I came downstairs to find that Hope was also up and couldn't sleep!  Since we had all of the supplies on hand, I suggested that we go ahead and make her school Valentines.

Please excuse the flash -- there wasn't much in the way of natural light at that time of morning/night.

This is the first time that we've made Valentines instead of buying ready made and it was really fun.  I cut out hearts from the patterned paper while Hope glued and went nuts with stickers. Here she is with the finished product, after the sun came up:

At first, I wasn't too thrilled to not be able to sleep, but it turned out nicely, being able to spend time with Hope with nothing us else to distract us. I find that crafting with her is one of our best times together.

Minnie Mouse Birthday Party!

My little girl turned a big 6 years old this month & she wanted a Mickey & Minnie Mouse birthday party. Thanks to Pinterest, Mama was able to make it happen with style!

To give myself a little credit, I did think up some of the ideas -- the snack area, the decorated treat bags & the cake.  Actually, Hope is a big fan of Cake Boss & she saw a cake on the show which had cupcakes on top of the cake.  She had to have that for her party. 

It's amazing how easy it is to make such cute things with a little borrowed creativity...thank you Pinterest! 

(You can find the links with ideas & instructions for the party ideas on the Pinterest link above -- they are on my "birthday party" board)

Progress on the House!!!

The house is coming along beautifully.  In just about a month, we went from this:

to what you see above!  In fact, it's even farther along than shown in that photo.  The roof is on, all of the electrical, HVAC, & plumbing are installed and the front porch has been poured.

We had the pre-drywall walk through on Monday & it went really well.  Everything, aside from one very minor item, was perfect.  It was so exciting to be in all of the rooms and envision ourselves there. 

Hope & Glenn, standing at the entrance to the study.

I've been completely zen about the process & really taking the timeframe in stride.  BUT, now that we've seen the inside, I'm so excited to get moved in and start making it just the way we want it.

Summer Kid Projects

Today is the last day of kindergarten for Hope & I must say, I'm so stinkin' proud of her.  She has learned so much and has become such a perceptive little girl.  When I picked her up today, several teachers (even ones who didn't teach her) told me that they would miss her.  Love her.

Now the time has come to think up ways to amuse her this summer.  I've been gathering ideas from around the web in the past few months & thought that I'd share them here.  Mostly they are crafty projects, but I think that they will hold the interest of non-crafty kids as well.

Homemade Playdough:

Fun to make, fun to play with!  And, you can customize your colors.

Galaxy Play Dough:

If you want to kick it up a notch, try out this Galaxy Play Dough.  I don't know about your kids, but mine will do anything that involves glitter.

Sidewalk Paint:

We've tried this one already & it was really fun.  The paint washes off after a good rainstorm or washing with a hose.

Magic Potion:

What kid doesn't want to make magic potion??

Simple Homemade Lip Gloss

This looks like a super simple but really fun project -- I can't wait to try this one.

Marshmallow Toothpick Boredom Buster

Click through to the link to see all of the fun things that you can do with this project.  Its kind of like edible tinker toys.

Those are just a few of the ideas that I found.  Type in "kids crafts" on a search engine or Pinterest & you'll find so many fun activities.

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Please visit the creative people who came up with these ideas at their blogs through the links.  You'll find full instructions for all of the crafts.

Homemade Playdough: Art Nest

Galaxy Playdough: Fairy Dust Teaching

Sidewalk Paint: Pink & Green Mama

Fizzy Magic Potion: Minieco

Homemade Lipgloss: Meet the Dubiens

Marshmallow Boredom Buster: Ashley Ann Photography

2010 Holiday Party

Our home was aglow Saturday night with candles,

abundant in food,

filled with dressed up children snatching cookies when mom & dad weren't looking,

and warm with good friends.

Such a good night.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The weather has been turning this week, from the bright, brisk feeling of mid Autumn to the cold and quiet time of Thanksgiving.  I love that the weather reflects the time when we take a moment from our lives to think about our blessings and what we truly value.

This year, I will thank God for these things & so much more:

Glenn, my phenomenal husband, who loves me for who I am & is absolutely my rock. 

Hope, the bright shiny thing that lights up my every day.  I can't believe that you came from me.

My parents, who showed me that family is the thing that you can always count on.  And, they read to me every night and we had a family dinner every night.  What a great example to me.

My sister, best sisterfriend ever.  And, she gave me Rainer, the sweet, charming, strawberry blond nephew that has my heart.

Glenn's job, the thing that has kept us afloat as I find my way.

The world of possibilities that are at my feet every day.  What a lucky girl.

The peace and abundance of living in the United States.  Even with the difficulties, poverty & injustice that still exist in our land, we not only have it so much better than the rest of the world, but we also have a system that embraces constant improvement.

I hope that you & your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Halloween Fun

Just a few photos of our Halloween...as you can see, Hope did very well with her trick or treating & had a blast as Minnie Mouse.  I hope that your Halloween was as fun as ours!

5th Birthday!

This past week was Hope's 5th birthday!  5 years old is a big birthday...definitely not a pre-schooler or a toddler anymore. 

Her actual birthday was in the middle of the week, so we celebrated with cupcakes after dinner.

Her big celebration was on Saturday, a pink princess party at our house.  It's a real pity that I didn't truly capture the color in the dining room in that first photo.  It was glowing pink.  Hope loved it.  The cake was carefully chosen from cakes at every.single.grocery.store.in.the.area. We looked at them all, I assure you.  As a take home favor, I decorated tiara shaped cookies.  In addition, the girls were each given a tiara upon her arrival.

Ah, in this photo you can see the pink glow. The girls each decorated her own fairy princess wand, colored princess coloring pages, and played "Pin the Tiara on the Princess". 

After eating cake, we took the sugared-up girls outside to chase around balloons.  It was a last minute idea of Glenn's & it was brilliant.  They were out there for at least 15 minutes, tossing the balloons in the air over & over.

Little girls must see the birthday girl's gifts up close & personal.

One of Hope's friends stayed a bit later than the others & they tried on her new princess costumes.  They were too, too stinkin cute!

After this was over, Hope crawled up on the sofa beside me, put her head in my lap & fell asleep.  I'd say that birthday number 5 was a success.