. . . and babies make four.

The Winter that wasn't.

2012-02-09T21:33:00.000-08:00

It's 35 and sunny today. This is the kind of Winter that I can get excited about!

A little dragon fun.

2012-02-04T20:09:00.000-08:00

The girls had a friend over to play today.

We made dragon puppets.

Then the girls hid.

And jumped out and scared Eric.

Those were some scary dragons.

Celebrating Chinese New Year.

2012-01-30T20:51:00.000-08:00

We had a Chinese New Year party yesterday for the families in our travel group who live in Chicago.

The party was originally scheduled for last Saturday but in the wee hours of Saturday morning Kenna came to our room, asked me to, "fix her tummy because it didn't feel right" and then promptly threw up. And then, just about the time I was sure she was fine, I figured out Michal had a 103-degree fever that landed us in the doctor's office. So with one child with the stomach flu, and one child with strep throat and an ear infection, we decided it was best to postpone the party until this past weekend.

This Chinese New Year party also had a very special twist to it. It was a surprise shower for our good friends, Fran and Bob, who just received their referral for their second child from China. They've waited more than five years for this referral and will soon travel to China to meet their positively-adorable son! Yep, a little boy!

After everyone arrived we ate lots and lots of Chinese food and the girls all sat together at their own table.

We played a couple games -- "Guess How Many Fortune Cookies in the Jar" and "What's in That Jar?" -- and there were prizes in both adult and kid categories.

Then Fran and Bob opened gifts and we marveled that we were able to just hang out and talk upstairs while all of the kids played -- loudly! -- downstairs. We actually couldn't get them to come back upstairs . . .

. . . until it was time dessert, which they happily ate, and then promptly disappeared downstairs again.

It was really a fun, celebration-filled afternoon!

(And that would be Michal's "big-eyed look" above. She's quite proud of the fact that she can make her eyes bigger than anyone else. Oh, the talent!)

In case you are planning a Chinese New Year Party any time soon, here are some of my sources:

Tassel Garlands - Pomflair.
Can I tell you how much I love these? Love them! I first saw tissue tassel garlands in Martha Stewart Living but they were made by someone else and were way too expensive in my opinion. I found these on etsy and think they just scream, "Party!" Plus, Carmen at Pomflair was a dream to work with. I can't say enough nice things about her.

There are also several good online tutorials on how to make these yourself but all include warnings that they're very time consuming.

Tablecloths - fabric is from JoAnn Fabrics and the tablecloths were made by my dear friend Michelle at My Modern Whimsy.

Red Round Lanterns - Hobby Lobby
Hobby Lobby now carries lanterns in many colors. They are really inexpensive, especially if you use their 40% off coupon or buy them during a week that they're on sale -- and that happens a lot at Hobby Lobby!

Chinese Lanterns - 99 Ranch Market in Cupertino, California.
I wish I'd bought more of these when I was in California. They are really beautiful and fold flat when you're ready to store them.

Drums used on the napkins - Oriental Trading Company

And these are some of the things that I made:

Cupcake Toppers - I made these from beautiful hung bao envelopes purchased in Chinatown. I just used a 2-inch circle punch and attached two circles back-to-back on a bamboo skewer.

Lanterns on the tables - I made these from red wooden IKEA frames. I removed the plexiglass that comes in them, printed photos I took in China on vellum and then reassembled the frames with the plexiglass behind the photo. I then hinged the frames together using red duct tape on the inside and put four votives on the inside.

Photo stickers - I "antiqued" the referral picture of our friends' new son, printed it on sticker paper and punched out 1.5-inch and 2-inch circles. I then used gold ink around the edges of the circle to frame the photo. I used the smaller stickers on the napkins and the party favor glassine bags and the larger stickers on the game prize glassine bags.

Chocolate-dipped fortune cookies -- I bought fortune cookies at World Market and Belgian milk and dark chocolate at Trader Joe's. (You have to use good chocolate!) I then melted the chocolate in a sauce pan, dunked the fortune cookies and put them on parchment paper to cool. The milk chocolate ended up with spots on it so I microwaved each of the milk chocolate cookies to warm up the chocolate again and then I sprinkled decorating sugar on it.

These were super easy to make and you could sprinkle anything on the chocolate while it's warm -- almonds or pistachios, rainbow sprinkles, chopped candied ginger -- or you could drizzle some white chocolate over the dark chocolate.

Golden letters - I purchased the large "D" at JoAnn Fabrics and the smaller letters at Hobby Lobby. They are made out of paper mache. I painted them with metallic gold paint, also purchased at Hobby Lobby. They actually looked like they were made out of metal! The same letters would be cute painted to look like they're silver or zinc.

My beautiful girls.

2012-01-28T22:32:00.000-08:00

Kenna is in the gold dress and Michal is in the pink dress. They both are wearing their favorite color!

Long Nian Kuai Le! Happy Dragon Year! 新年快乐!

2012-01-22T19:34:00.000-08:00

Friday Finds {Jason Wu for Target}

2012-01-18T06:11:00.000-08:00

Do you know who Jason Wu is? He is the smiling 26-year old who designed Michelle Obama's winter white gown for the Presidential Inaugural Ball. His designs are modern and ladylike and lovely. They also are prohibitively expensive.

But now he's designed a beautiful line for Target and nothing in the line is more than $59.99. The line has a sweet, French feel and I've read that the quality of the fabrics is really good. I think the black trench coat above is adorable. I'm excited to see the line in person.

Lines will be forming at your local Target on February 5. I'm sure it will be just like the Missoni launch so if you're going to go, get there early!

Sledding in the backyard.

2012-01-16T07:24:00.000-08:00

We live on a hill and, in true Midwestern fashion, there aren't fences between most of the yards. So the kids take their sleds to the house at the top of the street and sled down into our yard. We had no idea our house came with a sledding hill! A very happy surprise.

Snow.

2012-01-12T09:59:00.000-08:00

Our backyard.

This has been the Winter that wasn't. We've had no snow and temperatures in the high 40s.

Until today.

It started snowing this morning around 10:00 a.m. and it hasn't stopped snowing yet.

When I went to pick the girls up from school I slid through an intersection and fishtailed into the school parking lot. I also slid right past our driveway when we came home.

I guess I haven't driven in snow in awhile.

It looks like I'll get plenty of practice in the next few days.

Adios.

2012-01-09T21:22:00.000-08:00

Today is our final day in Puerto Vallarta. We've had a wonderful time here and have loved the beautiful weather, the gracious people and the chance to spend time together.

We fly back to Northern California tonight and I get to spend a couple days in Californis before heading home and back to reality.

Tacos and the pink bridge.

2012-01-08T22:41:00.000-08:00

We went into town again this afternoon and visited a local taqueria that was recommended by our concierge and our taxi driver. The restaurant was called Pepe's and the tacos were fabulous. We ordered them without cilantro, and didn't eat the salsa -- we were just a little uneasy about anything that might have been washed in water -- but they were delicious even plain. We all had ice cold, made-with-real-sugar Cokes in glass bottles too.

After lunch we walked along the Boardwalk, shopped a little and then walked through a neighborhood called Gringo Gulch.

We climbed several sets of stairs to get up to The Lover’s Arch, which separates the former homes of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Liz’s home is on the left and was called Casa Kimberley. Recently it was torn down and is supposedly being replaced by a condominium complex. There were no signs of construction when we were there but the original villa clearly had been torn down. Burton’s house is still intact and the bridge, now faded and peeling, is also still there.

2/100

2012-01-08T21:51:00.000-08:00

January 8, 2012

Chasing Pigeons in Plaza Principal

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

1/100

2012-01-08T21:31:00.000-08:00

January 8, 2012

Pepe's Taqueria

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

100 Strangers.

2012-01-08T19:07:00.000-08:00

For a long time I've wanted to take on a "100 Strangers" project. The concept is fairly simple -- take 100 photographs of at least 100 people you don't know. The people are suppose to truly be strangers -- not your cousin's brother-in-law or the neighbor down the street.

The idea is to tell a story with the photograph; to communicate who the person is, or might be, with one single photo. The idea is also to stretch yourself as a photographer and maybe make a few friends along the way. Some people only include forward-facing, traditional portraits for this project, but I really prefer candids so my plan is to include those too.

I love the idea. And I'm going to try it this year. I took my first two photos in Mexico. Here's to the next 98!

Another lovely huevos-rancheros-for-breakfast day.

2012-01-07T22:00:00.000-08:00

Mexico.

2012-01-06T06:26:00.000-08:00

I'm in Puerto Vallarta with my friend Cara. We're here with her oldest son, Ryan, and his friend Kevin.

Today we went into the town of Puerto Vallarta and visited Our Lady of Guadalupe church and shopped for awhile. We spent the late afternoon reading by the pool and walking on the beach.

A pretty great way to spend the day!

Day 5

2012-01-05T20:04:00.000-08:00

January 5, 2012

6:15 p.m.

Sunset in Puerto Vallarta

New posts below.

2012-01-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to catch up on Christmas and our trip to Arizona and I'm putting the posts in the correct date order so they're not at the top.

If you're interested, you can see new posts here, here, here, here and here .

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to the 12 Days of Christmas Winners!

2011-12-27T05:00:00.001-08:00

First Day of Christmas. Congraulations Ani! You have won the amazing silhouette necklace.

Second Day of Christmas. Congratulations Wendy! You have won two darling sets of custom note cards.
Third Day of Christmas. Congratulations E! You have won a gift certificate for super cute little girls clothing.

Fourth Day of Christmas. Congratulations Suzanne! You have won a custom silver family ornament.

Fifth Day of Christmas. Congratulations Shauna! You have won your choice of a darling jewelry drawer or hook rack.

Sixth Day of Christmas. Congratulations Desiree! You have won a Karito Kids doll. A special someone will LOVE this!

Seventh Day of Christmas. Congratulations Lilly! You have won a penny necklace.

Eighth Day of Christmas. Congratulations Karen Proulx!

Ninth Day of Christmas. Congratulations Gale!

Tenth Day of Christmas. Congratulations Mandy! You have won a $25 gift certificate to Kie&Kate! Happy shopping.

Eleventh Day of Christmas. Congratulations Susan! You have won two custom buntings from My Modern Whimsy. I can't wait to see what you choose.

Twelfth Day of Christmas. Congratulations Janet! You won a glass heart pendant from Jewel Ya.

Please contact me so I can tell you how to claim your prize.

Congratulations to all the 12 Days of Christmas winners! I hope you love what you won. If you haven't already, please contact me and I'll tell you how to claim your prize.

Merry Christmas from Our Family to Yours!

2011-12-25T06:57:00.000-08:00

Five Things I Love About Arizona.

2011-12-23T15:29:00.000-08:00

1. Sitting by the swimming pool at 5:00 p.m. and reveling in the fact that it's still bright and sunny outside. Not one single cloud in the sky, Kenna and Michal in the pool and me reminding Eric no less than 10 times that it would be pitch black if we were in Chicago.

2. Food. Real Mexican food served with thin chips and fantastic salsa and guacamole made tableside. And The Original Pancake House and LGO. The waitress at LGO is calling us by name now and slipping us two-for-one coupons for the Gelato shop next door. We're either really charming or we've been there too often. I tend to think it's the latter.

3. Spectacular sunsets every single night. Yes, it's because of all the dust in the air, but it doesn't make them any less beautiful.

4. Being on vacation but not needing directions or a recommendation of where to eat. (See number 2.)

5. Grandparents. That one needs no further explanation.

On the twelfth day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-23T05:00:00.000-08:00

I met Julia when we both had corporate careers and no kids -- boy, does that seem like a long time ago! We worked together but also became good friends. Many Saturday mornings we'd go to antique stores and estate sales and over the years we found many great things together.

It is always fun to shop with Julia because she has an amazing design sense and impeccable taste. Her home is beyond lovely and she can put an outfit together like no one I've ever seen. She also is an insanely talented jewelry designer. Lots of people make jewelry but Julia creates things that make you feel beautiful when you put them on. Her pieces are carried by many boutiques and she also sells her jewely online .

She is really particular about quality and workmanship. In her studio they work with sterling silver, vermilion, gold-fill and 14K metals coupled with natural gem stones and freshwater pearls.

And her jewelry is really neat because it's made to be interchangeable. She are has many pendants and drops to choose from and they can be put on multiple necklaces. And her necklaces are made to layer together.

It's a pretty addictive concept.

Her hoop earrings are also amazing. You pick the metal and size of hoop you'd like and then there are many gem stones and drops that you can add to them to create a mini earring wardrobe. Super fun.

To get you started, Julia she is giving one of you the beautiful heart pendant pictured above. It's a smooth bright red glass heart pendant hand-wired on Sterling Silver of Goldfill metals.

And you can enter this giveaway two times. You can receive one entry for visiting her website and coming back and telling me what you saw that you liked, and you can get a second entry by becoming a Jewel Ya Facebook follower.

This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations Janet!

Day 356

2011-12-22T22:40:00.000-08:00

December 22, 2011

12:30 p.m. and 3:40 p.m.

Grilled cheese at In-N-Out Burger and leaping off the planter at my high school.

On the eleventh day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-22T05:00:00.000-08:00

These last three giveaways are especially fun for me because all three of the people generously providing a prize are real-life friends of mine -- stylish, talented, amazing friends. I already told you about Kate who owns Kie&Kate -- you can still enter her giveaway by the way -- and today I'm going to tell you about Michelle. Michelle is the one pictured holding the snowman bottles of hot chocolate at the girls' gingerbread party. She just happens to be a fabulously-talented seamstress who just opened an etsy shop called My Modern Whimsy.

She made the absolutely precious flag buntings for the gingerbread party. They are so cute and really made the party look festive. I haven't asked her yet but I'm hoping she'll make buntings for the girls' playroom too.

And she's going to give one of you two, 12-foot long custom flag buntings in the color combination of your choice! Each cotton flag is pinked around the edges, and is eight inches long. Eighteen flags will adorn each 12 foot long bunting with approximately 8 inches for hanging on each end! You can choose two made out of the same combination of fabrics or two made out of entirely different fabrics. These are so cute for both boys and girls in a bedroom, a playroom or at a party. And they're not just for kids. They'd be darling at a baby shower or at a grown up birthday party too.

This giveaway is closed. Congratulations Susan!

Making haystacks with Grandma

2011-12-21T21:48:00.000-08:00

I'd just like to point out that I was never allowed to sit on the counter or eat more than actually made it on the baking sheet . . .

Two more giveaways.

2011-12-20T20:07:00.001-08:00

There are two more giveaways . . . Days 11 and 12.

We just arrived in Arizona so Day 11 will be posted on Wednesday and Day 12 will be posted on Thursday.

There are still some fun giveaways that you can enter. Just scroll down to find them!

And thanks so much for playing along. I love doing this and hope you've had fun too.

An early Christmas . . .

2011-12-19T13:00:00.000-08:00

We let the girls open their presents from us this morning since we're leaving for Arizona today. The girls each got a singing princess doll -- I may regret that decision -- and a "real" jewelry box. The style of jewelry box is called the "McKenna," which seemed appropriate.

They also got Mario Kart and a dance pad for Wii. And cute owl hats and headbands from Miss Cara!

This is the girls opening their jewelry boxes. The look on Kenna's face totally cracks me up.

The girls were excited to have new things to play with while Eric and I finished packing! This morning was a great start to Christmas!

The Gingerbread Soiree

2011-12-19T00:20:00.000-08:00

Nine little girls joined Michal and Kenna for a morning of decorating gingerbread houses, making ornaments, eating cupcakes, drinking hot chocolate and leaping, jumping, dancing and general merry-making.

We haven't had any snow yet . . . until this morning! We woke up to fresh snow on everything, which made it really feel like Christmas.

When the girls arrived, they each donned a snowman apron and I had a gingerbread house waiting for them -- along with lots of different kinds of candy, marshmallow, meringue kisses, cookie wreaths and gingerbread men. I think as much candy was eaten as made it on the houses, but that's part of the fun.

After the girls finished decorating houses, we made glitter-filled glass ornaments and jingle bell candy cane ornaments.

Then we went back upstairs for cupcakes, cake pops and hot chocolate.

I made cake pops one other time and it was such a time-consuming process that I said I'd never make them again. This time I used chocolate donut holes -- genius! -- and they were so fast and easy.

I bought a dozen chocolate cake donut holes at Dunkin' Donuts. Then I melted white chocolate discs in the microwave. I dipped a lollipop stick in the melted chocolate and gently put in in the donut hole. Once I had a stick in every donut hole, I put them in the refrigerator to set. Once the chocolate had cooled, I dipped each donut hole in the melted chocolate, tapped off the excess and then sprinkled crushed candy canes on the chocolate. Super easy and super cute!

This is my friend Michelle who made the adorable table cloths and bunting and helped me during the party. The party literally wouldn't have happened without her. Thank you Michelle!

It was a really fun morning!

And just in case you want to host your own gingerbread party, here are some of my resources:

Gingerbread houses: Whole Foods Bakery

Ceramic plates: Michael's Craft Store

"Snowman" bottles: Frappucino bottles, scarfs made from a thrift store sweater and buttons hot glued on the front

Cupcakes: Standard Market (If you live in the Western Suburbs of Chicago, go visit this great new gourmet market! Their cupcakes are frosted with swiss meringue and are truly divine.)

Christmas flag bunting: Modern Whimsy

Table cloths: Modern Whimsy

Marshmallow tin snowmen: Mom's Enterprises

"M" and "K" shirts: Kie&Kate Couture

Headbands: Kie&Kate Couture

On the tenth day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-19T00:10:00.000-08:00

Today's giveaway is from Kie&Kate Couture. Kate is adorable and she makes equally-adorable appliqued t-shirts for kids. What started out as a small business in her home has blossomed into the cutest boutique you've ever seen! In addition to darling appliqued tees and girls' hair accessories, she also happens to have impeccable taste and has stocked her store with gorgeous women's clothing and jewelry and fun home accessories. Some of my very favorite things in my closet are from her store.

Kate doesn't have an online store but is offering a $25 gift certificate that can be used in her traditional store. If you don't live in Chicago you can place an order over the phone or I would be happy to go and shop for you! For $25 you could get a darling infinity scarf, an appliqued tee or any number of pieces of jewelry. You can see some of her jewelry offerings here. You'll have lots of choices!

This giveaway is closed. Congratulations Mandy!

Winners!

2011-12-18T19:44:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to the following first Six Days of Christmas winners!

First Day of Christmas. Congraulations Ani! You have won the amazing silhouette necklace.

Second Day of Christmas. Congratulations Wendy! You have won two darling sets of custom note cards.

Third Day of Christmas. Congratulations E! You have won a gift certificate for super cute little girls clothing.

Fourth Day of Christmas. Congratulations Suzanne! You have won a custom silver family ornament.

Fifth Day of Christmas. Congratulations Shauna! You have won your choice of a darling jewelry drawer or hook rack.

Sixth Day of Christmas. Congratulations Desiree! You have won a Karito Kids doll. A special someone will LOVE this!

Please contact me so I can tell you how to claim your prize.

On the ninth day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-18T05:00:00.000-08:00

Marilee is one of my etsy favorites! Her shop, Marilee Jane Designs, is filled with amazing vintage-looking cupcake toppers, boxes and whimsical jewelry. Every single thing in her shop oozes charm. She also has a second shop called Party Pop Pop that's all party items -- very cute party items!

She made the cupcake toppers for the girls gingerbread party last year and the fairies for their seventh birthday party. Every single little head was hand-shaped, hand-painted and every skirt was hand-folded and glittered. The detail in her items is just amazing. Her pieces and make you think of a time when things made of paper mache, folded crepe paper and tin glitter filled holiday trees and curio cabinets.

And best of all, Marilee is an absolute dream to work with. I loved the little snow ladies she made and asked her to make fairies for the girls' birthday, which she figured out how to do just for me. I then asked her make more fairies as tree ornaments for the girls' little tree, which she happily did too.

And you can have something special made by Marilee! She is giving away a Victorian Angel Holiday Candy Container pictured in the top right corner above. This beautiful, Victorian, candy box is made from paper mache, and is covered in vintage music paper and gold cord. The little, angel cut out is decorated with an antique, garland crown, tiny, sparkly pin, and snow flakes. A crepe paper ruffle trims the top and bottom edges of the candy box. The handle is made from a gold chenille stem, and includes a glitter trimmed card, and gold star. Hang on a tree, or sit on a table, and fill with your favorite holiday candies. With handle, candy box measures 6 1/2 inches high.

This giveaway is closed. Congratulations to !

On the ninth day of Christmas will be delayed a day . . .

2011-12-16T22:47:00.000-08:00

I am right now swimming in gingerbread, royal icing and candy canes in preparation for a gingerbread house building party at our house in the morning.

The ninth day giveaway will be posted on Sunday, instead of the morning, along with announcement of some of the prize winners!

On the eighth day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

When is a cabinet door not simply a cabinet door? When it's a darling chalk board.

The Door Stop sells adorable framed chalkboards, custom coat racks and cabinet hardware.

I love how Jenny describes why she makes things.

Maybe its the smell of raw maple. The saw dust. The Apple Barrel paint, which is, of course, the same brand I squirted onto my paper plate as a child. Or maybe its just the feeling that I've created something unique . . . like nothing else in the world . . .

And that's exactly why I love her store . . . it's completely and totally unique.

The Door Stop is giving one reader a $30 gift certificate to be spent on anything in their shop! Just go visit The Door Stop and then come back and tell me what you saw that you liked.

This giveaway is closed. Congratulations

On the seventh day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-15T05:00:00.000-08:00

We all have important dates in our life . Sometimes those days are big -- our birthday, the day we got married, the day our child was born or the day they joined our family -- and sometimes those days are smaller but no less momentous, like a first date, a first kiss or the date we visited somewhere special for the first time. There are countless ways to remember, honor and celebrate a special date and I think Pats Design has come up with one of the most clever ways I've seen.

Pat will find your lucky penny the year, or years, of your choosing and then turn those pennies into jewelry or a key chain. I think this would be such a great gift for a little girl. You could give choose the year she lost her first tooth, scored her first soccer goal or performed in her first dance recital. I think these necklaces are so clever and fun!

And even more fun is that Pat is giving one of you the "Lucky Us Necklace" in copper or stainless steel. Go visit Pats Design and then tell me what you like. In addition to these necklaces, she makes lots of neat organic jewelry -- much of it in copper -- fun key chains and really fun pet tags! Her work looks like something you'd find at an art festival and just makes me smile.

This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations Lily!

On the sixth day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-14T05:00:00.000-08:00

I love these dolls.

They remind me of American Girl dolls in a more cosmopolitan package. Karito Kids by Kids Give dolls are five, 11-year-old girls each from a different country. The dolls are realistically proportioned and are recommended for ages 6 & up. They are beautifully-made and come with a book too.

Kids Give believes that “children around the world are fundamentally the same and that, given the chance, they want to help each other.” Not only can your children play with these dolls and learn and read about their cultures, but a percentage of all purchases go to Plan USA. All you and your child need to do is enter the code given on all Kids Give products and pick which charitable cause you would like the money to be sent.

And you have the chance to win one of these beautiful dolls! You may choose from several different ones.

This is a giveaway from me. To enter, just leave a comment. And if you're a follower, or become one, you are welcome to enter this or any giveaway of your choosing two times.

This giveaway is closed. Congratulations to Desiree!

Day 347

2011-12-13T20:29:00.000-08:00

December 13, 2011

8:00 a.m.

I think this is an elf sugar rush.

On the fifth day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-13T05:00:00.000-08:00

You can officially file this under "Why didn't I think of that?"

Blue Bird Heaven transforms antique printer drawers into positively-adorable places to store your earrings, bracelets and necklaces.

These beautiful display drawers literally transform jewelry storage into art. And can you imagine how cute they would be to store dress-up jewelry in a playroom or little girl's bedroom?

Blue Bird Heaven also makes funky, fun and totally-unique hook racks. So cute and so clever!

And guess what? Blue Bird Heaven is going to give one of you your choice of the jewelry drawer (pictured in the top row) or the vintage red hook rack (also pictured in the top row.) Just go visit their store, then come back and let me know what caught your eye!

This giveaway is closed. Congratulations to

What smart elves we have.

2011-12-12T22:38:00.000-08:00

Michal's comment was, "Oh my gosh. Look how much ice cream they ate! How could they eat that much ice cream with such little spoons?"

On the fourth day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-12T05:00:00.000-08:00

There is something warm and organic about hand stamped jewelry. Each piece is truly unique and it's fun to know you have something made especially for you.

I really like the hand-stamped pieces made by Something About Silver.

They make beautiful jewelry and other unique items too. I especially like their hand stamped family Christmas ornament. (It's pictured above.) I think it's something really special! And guess what? One of you is going to win one to hang on your Christmas tree or in some other special place!

To enter, just go visit the Something About Silver website and then come back and tell me what caught your eye.

This giveaway is closed. Congratulations to Suzanne who won an amazing custom family ornament.

Elves on the Move.

2011-12-11T17:00:00.000-08:00

We've found our elves sitting in the candles -- luckily they're the flame-less kind.

Riding on the reindeer stocking holders.

Hanging upside down on the Christmas wreaths.

Sliding down the piano

And peering down at the girls eating breakfast from the lights above the counter.

Oh those elves!

On the third day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-11T05:00:00.000-08:00

You knew at least one of The 12 Days of Christmas would include some really, really cute little girl's clothing, didn't you?

Well, say hello to laken & lila. Heather makes beautiful clothing and I especially like all of her darling little skirts. And laken & lila skirts are always buy-two-get-one-free! You can even mix and match sizes. Laken & Lila also has an oh-so-fun Skirt of the Month Club that you can join for either six or 12 months. The skirts in the Club end up being just $13 each!

And Heather is going to give one of you a $25 laken & lila gift certificate! And that just happens to be enough for a skirt for a special little girl in your life.

This giveaway is closed. Congratulations to E from This and That.

On the second day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-10T05:00:00.000-08:00

When we moved this summer, I searched and searched for moving announcements but couldn't find anything that I liked. Then I spent an evening on etsy -- dangerous, I know -- and found Simplicity Papers.

It was love at first sight.

And they were so amazing to work with! I asked for the design from one card to be put on a different card and they did just what I asked and before I knew it my moving announcements were waiting for me on my front porch.

Simplicity Papers' cards, announcements and invitations -- that all can be customized with your wording -- are simple, modern and beautifully-made.

This giveaway is closed. Congratulations to Wendy who has won two sets of custom notecards!

On the first day of Christmas . . .

2011-12-09T05:00:00.000-08:00

I have a thing for silhouettes. They're old fashioned yet they're totally modern. And I really don't think there's a sweeter way to capture a moment in your child's life.

I positively adore these beautiful custom silhouette necklaces from Retro Mama Customs. I think they are absolutely precious and elevate traditional "mom jewelry" to a whole new level! I think it would look so cute to put more than one on a chain and I bet grandmas would love them too.

And one of these beautiful custom necklaces, with your own sweet baby or beloved pet on it, can be yours! To enter all you have to do is visit Retro Mama Customs, then come back and tell me what you see that you like. (In addition to these silhouette necklaces Retro Mama Customs makes lots of darling stamped jewelry.)

If you posted about the 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway on your blog, or Facebook page, you'll get an extra entry. Just leave two separate comments on this post. And if you are a follower of this blog, or become a follower, you can pick any of the 12 days to take an extra entry!

This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Ani who is the winner of this awesome silhouette necklace!

12 Days of Christmas. 12 Days of Fun. STARTS TOMORROW!

2011-12-08T05:00:00.000-08:00

Mark you calendar! The 12 Days of Christmas starts TOMORROW, December 9.

I'm sorry for starting a couple days late. I'm in charge of a big event this Saturday and two events next week and I'm just a little behind.

I am really excited for the 12 Days of Christmas this year! I have 12 wonderful gifts to give away and lots of crazy-talented people who make and sell beautiful things to share with you.

Someone recently asked me if I get paid to do this giveaway, or if I get duplicates of some of the prizes to keep. Rest assured that I don't. It's just genuinely fun for me to share the things that I've found with you. The person, or business, who is featured is the one who generously provides the prize and I'm just the lucky messenger.

And speaking of prizes, the first prize will be posted on Wednesday, December 7 at 6:00 a.m. CST! If you'd like an extra entry in the first giveaway, just share the link -- you can grab it on the right -- to the 12 Days of Christmas giveaway or post something on your blog or Facebook page and then leave a comment telling me you shared it on the first day giveaway. You also can get an extra entry on one day of your choosing if you are a follower of this blog or you become one. All you have to do is leave a separate comment to let me know that you're a follower.

This is going to be fun. I hope you'll play along!

The things she says.

2011-12-03T20:26:00.000-08:00

Tonight Michal looked at me and said, "Mom, guess what? We're almost eight. Goodbye baby clothes and hello sequins!"

I wasn't sure if I should laugh or cry.

Visitors from the North Pole

2011-12-01T21:21:00.000-08:00

When the girls got home from school today there was a box on the front porch, addressed to them, from Santa Claus. After much leaping, hopping and yelling -- them, not me -- we took the box inside so they could open it.

Nestled in sparkly-red-polka-dotted tissue paper, under a letter from Santa, were Eloise and McKenna, our Elf on the Shelf duo.

The letter from Santa reminded them not to touch their elves and also reminded them to send a letter with their Christmas wishes to the North Pole.

Day 325

2011-11-21T22:00:00.000-08:00

November 21, 2011

4:37 p.m.

Japan Town in San Francisco

Day 324

2011-11-20T21:26:00.000-08:00

November 20, 2011

10:15 a.m.

Cara, Lysa, Laura me and Andrea -- Shelli is taking the picture.

We've been friends since we were 18 and all pledging the same sorority. It's the kind of friendship that has survived the test of time. I adore these women!

Day 323

2011-11-19T23:06:00.000-08:00

November 19, 2011

11:27 a.m.

The view from the beach house. I could get used to this!

Hello California.

2011-11-17T22:27:00.000-08:00

I flew to California today -- five long hours on an airplane. I'm here for a girls' vacation with five good friends from college. We've rented a beach house in Half Moon Bay for a few days and then we're spending a few days in San Francisco.

This afternoon I took senior pictures for a really sweet girl. I am not used to photographing people who stand exactly where you ask them to, don't run around and never give you a chessy smile. (She did climb two trees though!) I really had a good time and am crossing my fingers that I got some good shots.

I am not ready . . .

2011-11-10T20:05:00.000-08:00

It snowed today. It only stuck on the ground for a few minutes but it's November and it. should. not. being. snowing. yet.

Pinkalicous

2011-11-09T21:24:00.000-08:00

We took Kenna and Michal to see Pinkalicious in downtown Chicago today. It was absolutely darling! They loved it and Eric and I enjoyed it too.

After the play we had lunch and then went to Sweet Mandy B's for cupcakes. It seemed appropriate after watching a play based almost entirely on eating too many pink cupcakes!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T19:01:00.000-07:00

Beautiful?

2011-10-29T16:57:00.000-07:00

This morning Michal told me, "When you're 13, you get called beautiful. Mom, you jumped ahead because you call us beautiful now. Seven-year olds are called cute.

Kenna then said, "No, I think six and under are called cute and seven and over are called beautiful."

Michal thought for a moment and then agreed.

Kenna then added, "If you're six and a half sometimes you'll get called beautiful and sometimes you'll get called cute."

Day 300

2011-10-27T21:29:00.000-07:00

October 27, 2011

4:20 p.m.

Dance Class

I'm a Giant Challenge

2011-10-26T18:54:00.000-07:00

If you've read this blog for awhile -- and thank you if you have! -- you may remember that I started to remodel and decorate my childhood dollhouse. Somewhere along the way my enthusiasm gave way to the craziness of life and the dollhouse got put away to finish when I had more time.

Enter Emily Henderson. Do you know who she is? She won Season 5 of "Design Star" and now has her own show on HGTV called "Secrets from a Stylist." Plus, she's pretty funny and writes a great blog.

Emily came up the I'm a Giant Challenge.

The challenge entails decorating your own dollhouse. It can be it store-bought one, a vintage tag sale one or a DIY one. And you can do just about anything to your dollhouse. In other words, anything goes!

Joining Emily in the challenge are six diverse design and DIY bloggers: THE BRICK HOUSE, Design for Mankind, Hommemaker, Girl Domestic, Little Green Notebook, Making it Lovely, and Simply Grove. Each is putting their own spin on a dollhouse and will post all along the way. There will be a celebratory event in Los Angeles in January 2012, where the houses will be on display.

And YOU can participate too! Anyone can join in the fun. You can read more details on Emily's blog, and she even shares the start of her mood board.

So I have a challenge

And I love a challenge.

And a deadline. (The deadline for all of this is December 15, 2011.)

Project Dollhouse has officially begun.

Now I'm under no illusions that my dollhouse will hold a candle to Emily's -- she's creating a mood board for hers for goodness sake and you should see the person who works with her who sculpted a bear head and then covered it in fun and made a miniature bear skin rug! But I needed a swift kick in the behind to get going on this again so thank you Emily for the inspiration..

Boo to you too!

2011-10-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

We booed another neighbor yesterday . . . This neighbor has two little boys -- one is just a baby -- so we included some Halloween socks and the cutest Mr. Potato Head pumpkin decorating kit!

And then when we came home today someone had booed us! And wow! They gave us such nice treats: pumpkin bread, a pumpkin candle, Halloween iced cookies for Michal and Kenna plus a cute National Geographic Halloween book and markers. It was so generous and kind.

Boo at the Zoo

2011-10-23T21:10:00.000-07:00

Consignment Store Love

2011-10-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

This morning we went to the French Market. We bought beautiful tomatoes, pumpkin spiced bread, three kinds of cheese -- I think I've already eaten half of the brie layered with apricots and almonds! -- and freshly-made donuts for Michal and Kenna.

On our way back to the car I convinced Eric and the girls to go into a consignment store with me. It's a charity consignment store that benefits a nearby hospital. In all honesty, it's a tad junky in a fun, treasure-hunt kind of way.

At the very back of the store, leaning against a wall I found a beautiful eight-foot tall Pier mirror.

I loved it. Eric was skeptical but helped me measure it and then agreed to put a two-hour hold on it while we went home to measure the ceiling in our front entry.

Two hours later Eric and our next door neighbor hoisted the mirror out of my mini van to bring it into our front entry. I absolutely love it. It's clearly old and "1864" is written on the back of it. I tend to like clean, streamlined things so this ornate, gilded mirror is a fun "not streamlined" addition to our house.

It has a gilded marble base but it's just too "Palace of Versailles" so we put it right on the floor without the base.

Animal Kingdom

2011-10-16T19:03:00.000-07:00

Six Great Things About The Animal Kingdom.

1. "The Festival of the Lion King" show.

The performers are crazy talented and it's so much fun to watch. We actually saw it twice today and it was interesting to see that it's not the same show every time.

I honestly think this is the best show at Disney. ("The Nemo Show" at the Animal Kingdom and the "Beauty and the Beast Show" at Disney Studios would be close runners up.)

2. Face paint.

You can get your face painted at any of the Disney parks but doing it at The Animal Kingdom has become a bit of a tradition.

3. Meeting Poccahontis.

The girls have never seen Poccahontis before so this was really fun.

4. Playing the drums.

5. Watching the parade.

I love this picture. Do you see the woman in the background? She and her husband were standing across from us during the parade. She watched with the same wonder as my seven-year olds did. That's the magic of Disney.

6. And dancing in the "Goodnight Adventure Show" that closes the park.

And then we headed back to our hotel and found this on the girls' bed.

We all literally laughed out loud.

Our Little Chinese Acrobat

2011-10-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

We have been fortunate to experience many "magical moments" at Disney thanks to gracious cast members who have done lots of little things to make our visits special.

Kenna and Michal got to start and close the Bear Country Jamboree Show on one visit and Kenna got to play Lumiere in a Belle production during another. Both girls have participated in the Festival of the Lion King Show and the Disney High School Musical Show. And last night, at Epcot, Kenna was pulled out of the audience to be in the Chinese Acrobat Show. It was so cute to see how excited she was and how she tried so hard to have them pick Michal too. She has now decided that she IS going to be a real Chinese acrobat and both she and Michal have been leaping and jumping and trying to balance things on their feet ever since.

I'll post the video of her big performance soon.

Here she is so happy to be up on stage.

And carefully following the directions she was given.

And showing her muscles.

Her big moment doing the hat trick.

Epcot

2011-10-14T22:30:00.000-07:00

Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

2011-10-13T23:50:00.000-07:00

The girls, in their words, got "all princessed up" to go to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween party tonight. Michal was Mulan and Kenna was Tiana.

The Halloween Party was really a lot of fun! The park is much less crowded -- and it has been crazy crowded while we've been here -- the ride waits are short, there are lots of characters who aren't normally in the park, there are fun dance parties with the characters, a great fireworks show and trick-or-treating all over the park.

Discussing exactly how Pixie Dust makes you fly with Rosetta.

And showing her their fairy pins.

I wish I had been close enough to hear what they'd said to her here.

And chatting with Tinkerbell about the Fall Scepter.

Hollywood Studios.

2011-10-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

This morning we started our day at Disney Studios. Our first stop was the "Beauty and the Beast" show. It's such a great show! And the girls, not surprisingly, absolutely loved it.

They also loved dancing in the street during the Radio Disney show.

And meeting Mr. and Mrs. Incredible.

And watching the Pixar Pals Parade.

And trading pins.

I loved eating lunch at The Brown Derby.

Our sweet waiter even gave me the recipe for the original Brown Derby Cobb Salad.

We're headed to "Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party" tonight. Kenna and Michal are thrilled they get to stay at the Magic Kingdom until midnight!

The fun begins . . .

2011-10-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

Our day began at the oh-so-crowded Magic Kingdom. Orlando had several days of rain and storms so there was pent-up Magic Kingdom demand -- or at least that's what we were told! They actually kept the park open an hour later than scheduled because it was so full.

Kenna patiently waiting for the rest of us to finish getting ready with sunglasses and tiara all ready to go.

Required photo in front of the castle.

The Magic Kingdom all decked out for Fall. It really looks so pretty.

Kenna and Michal love the Dance Party Parade because you actually get to go out into the street and dance with the cast members and characters.

Look at Kenna in the background . . . she just makes me smile.

Toon Town Fair is gone! And they are building a huge new Fantasyland addition in its place. It's supposed to be done in 2012. It's going to have a new Seven Dwarfs Mine roller-coaster-type ride, an interactive Beauty and the Beast castle experience -- that's the castle in the background I think -- an Ariel ride, a new Storybook Circus area, which will include the relocated Flying Dumbo ride, and a new "Be Our Guest" restaurant. (We saw the same restaurant under construction at Disneyland the last time we were there.)

This is the artist's rendering of what the new Fantasyland addition is going to look like.

And this is an amazing overhead view showing the construction. You can really tell what a massive addition this is when you look at the size of the current Fantasyland in comparison. I guess the project was originally going to be a series of princess houses that would serve as "Meet and Greet" areas but it's grown into much more than that.

We spent the evening at Epcot, where they're having the Food and Wine Festival. We definitely ate our way through the World Showcase!

The girls loved the Chinese Acrobat show.

It was a great first day.

Magic abounds.

2011-10-11T19:07:00.000-07:00

After school today we headed to the airport. Six days in sunny Florida.

And yes, there will be a mouse, some princesses and at least a couple fairies involved!

Fall on the Front Porch

2011-10-09T18:39:00.000-07:00

They've Been Booed.

2011-10-09T18:13:00.000-07:00

The girls and I delivered our "Boo Basket" to our neighbors today. Since it was the middle of the day on Sunday, we didn't ring the doorbell because I was sure we'd get caught if we did.

We did very stealthily go and peek at their porch later in the day and the basket was gone and the "We've Been Booed" sign was on the door.

Success!

Our basket included a loaf of pumpkin swirl bread from Great Harvest, a tin of pumpkin waffle and pancake mix, a maple leaf and oak leaf pancake mold and three Halloween dish towels. We put it all in a tin container from Target tied with maple and oak leaves and some orange and black ribbon. I also rolled up the note and the sign and tied them with the same orange and black ribbon.

If you have a Great Harvest Bakery anywhere near you, go buy a loaf of pumpkin swirl bread! It is absolutely divine.

One person who changed the world.

2011-10-06T05:19:00.000-07:00

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only think you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Steve Jobs

February 24, 1955 - October 5, 2011

Do you "Boo?"

2011-10-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of "Booing" your neighbors? I think it's such a fun Halloween tradition.

There are some variations on how people do it, but the basics are the same. You put together a goodie basket of Halloween treats for a neighbor, leave it anonymously on their door step, ring the door bell and run. They in turn do the same thing for another neighbor.

In the basket you include a "We've Been Booed" sign for your neighbors to put in their window and a sheet with directions on how they in turn "Boo" the next person. You can get free, cute printables -- like the ones above -- to include in the basket.

The girls and I are going to start putting together our basket for our neighbors tomorrow. And yes, I know that I'm basically teaching Michal and Kenna how to ding-dong-ditch.

It's never too young to start!

How to Make a Cute Rapunzel Wig for Less than $5

2011-10-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

Kenna and Michal recently found a spool of wide gold Christmas ribbon, tied it to a hair twisty and have been using it to pretend to be Rapunzel ever since. I appreciate their creativity and use of found supplies but I thought I might be able to improve a little on their design and make them a Rapunzel wig that might last a bit longer.

I love how it turned out and thought I'd share what I did in case you have an aspiring long-haired princess in your house too.

Here's what you'll need:

1 skein of yellow- or gold-colored yarn. This will make one braided wig that hangs to the knees of a 48-inch child. The girls were at school when I made this so I had to kind of guess at the length. I would actually have liked it just a little longer. (Lion Brand yarn is on sale at JoAnn's Fabrics for $2.49.)
1 roll (approximately 10 yards) of lavender, purple or pink ribbon. (I used purple 1/2 inch voile ribbon. It was $1.99 for a 15-yard spool.)
Assorted small silk flowers -- approximately 15-20. (I used what I had on hand but these are really inexpensive and can even be purchased at the dollar store.)
Darning needle
Glue gun and glue sticks

You're going to first make one long braid that you'll then wrap into a braided crown with the remaining braid coming down from it.

Measure the circumference of the wearer's head plus the length from the center back of their head to the desired length down their back. Write down that number.
Start unrolling the skein of yarn into pieces this length. You'll want to pull out the entire skein of yarn except for one piece about 36 inches long.
Once you've pulled out all the yarn, cut the loops at both ends.
Trim the ends so all the pieces are even.
Cut three pieces of ribbon that are the same length as your pieces of yarn.
Tie a piece of the extra yarn around one end of your yarn and ribbon bundle and knot it a couple times.
Divide your yarn bundle into three sections. Make sure one piece of ribbon is on the top of each section.
Begin braiding. Once I got the braid going, I hooked it to a hanger to make it easier to braid without it getting all tangled.
When your braid is about five inches from the bottom, use a piece of yarn and tie it around the bottom.
Trim the bottom again to make it even.
Tie a piece of ribbon around the yarn piece and tie a bow.
Wrap the top of the braid around the wearer's head and mark the point where it closes.
Use a darning needle threaded with yarn and stitch the braid together at the point you marked to create a "crown" and dangling braid.
Use a glue gun to embellish the braid with silk flowers. This part resulted in just one burn on my finger!

Thank you.

2011-10-03T09:05:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much for taking the time to vote. The girls' Back-to-School party won! The following is from the Project Nursery blog . . .

Thanks again!

Day 275

2011-10-02T21:43:00.000-07:00

October 2, 2011

4:00 p.m.

Feeding the giraffe.

Give me a "W!"

2011-09-24T22:13:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday Michal and Kenna went to a cheer clinic at Wheaton College. They learned cheers and stunts and a dance. They really had the time of their lives.

And then today they cheered with the, in their words, "real college cheerleaders" during the second quarter of the game and did a cheer and a dance at half time.

It was really so cute. And it made this spent-more-years-than-I-can-count-in-a-cheer-uniform mom grin from ear-to-ear every minute they were on the field!

Day 267

2011-09-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

September 24, 2011

1:30 p.m.

Michal cheering at the Wheaton College football game. So cute!

I'm blushing.

2011-09-21T18:36:00.000-07:00

Have you ever visited Project Nursery?

It's one of my favorite places to go for decorating and party inspiration. Any one can upload photos and a description of a baby or kid's room they decorated or a party they hosted. It's great to see all the imaginative and creative things other people come up with and it's nice to get feedback on your own rooms and parties too.

Today I got a very nice -- and unexpected -- email from Project Nursery letting me know that the girls' First Day of School Dinner is a finalist for the September "Party of the Month." I honestly didn't even know they chose a "Party of the Month" and I'm really flattered -- and more than a little surprised -- to be a finalist.

There are just three finalists and the winner is based on visitor votes. So would you please, pretty please, go and vote for the girls' First Day of School Dinner?

Just click on the logo below and it will take you right to the voting section. It's just one click to vote. Or you can just click here.

You can vote once every 24 hours.

Thank you so much!

Dreaming of Oreo Toothpaste

2011-09-16T22:11:00.000-07:00

On the way to school this morning Kenna excitedly told me, "Mom, did you know that there's oreo train toothpaste that you can swallow? I saw it on a commercial."

It took me a minute to figure out what she was talking about.

"I think you're probably talking about Orajel training toothpaste for babies."

I've never seen her look quite so disappointed.

Friday Finds (Tuesday Edition) {Missoni for Target}

2011-09-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

The line at the West Hollywood Target started forming at 5:30 a.m. this morning and went around the building two times -- or that's at least what I read happened. And then Target's website crashed -- multiple times.

All the excitement was because today was the launch of the Missoni for Target line.

I completely forgot about it until tonight. I guess I missed the shelf-clearing fun!

Have you heard of Missoni? It's a high-end Italian brand that's best known for its very expensive zig-zag-patterned knits.

And now it's at Target for a limited time. Or at least it was at Target.

I haven't seen any of the Target pieces in person but some of the things look very cute online! After spending some time on the website tonight it looks like lots of the line is sold out already and when I use the "find it in a store" tool it looks like many things are sold out in the stores in my area too.

Bummer.

I would love these rain boots for Kenna and Michal.

Aren't they adorable?

And these two knit skirts are exactly what Missoni is known for! I love the unexpected combination of lime green and purple in this skirt.

And I think this skirt would be so cute with tights.

And this little trench coat is precious -- and very loud!

They also have -- or maybe had is the more accurate word -- women's, housewares, bedding and baby items.

UPDATED: After I dropped the girls at school this morning, I went to two different Targets in search of Missoni. In the housewares and women's sections there was literally not one single Missoni thing on the racks. I was able to find a couple pieces for Michal and Kenna in the Girls' section and I did find the rain boots for them. The quality of the knits is very nice and that purple coat above comes in toddler and girls sizes and is velvet and super cute! But these things are more expensive than the typical $9.99 Target dress so you better really love something if you're going to buy it. You can read more about all the madness here.

AND UPDATED AGAIN: When the girls got home from school we tried on the things I found this morning. The rain boots are strangely tall on Michal and Kenna. They come all the way to their knees and look a little like they're playing dress up in grown-up rain boots. The sizing on the other clothes seems to be off too. The cardigan I bought is on the long side in the sleeves but it's extremely short, almost like it was intended to be cropped. The same is true of the long-sleeved sweater I bought. It fits great except it's really short. The sweater leggings though fit perfectly and are darling. Maybe Italian children are just long-legged and short-torsoed!

Our summer.

2011-09-12T21:18:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful summer.

We visited the Appalachian Mountains to reunite with our China travel group and we went to Ohio to celebrate a special 90th birthday. We journeyed to beautiful Montana for our annual summer adventure with Eric's family and finished out the summer at a Elkhart Lake in Wisconsin. We watched movies and played games. We went to festivals and the girls went to American Girl Camp, vacation bible school and a magical week at theater camp. We stayed up late and caught fireflies. We saw fireworks and sunsets. We went to the drive-in movies and to the beach and to the pool almost every chance we had.

We wore flip flops every single day.

We celebrated half birthdays and whole birthdays and six years of being a family. We knee boarded, kayaked and rode quads. We "camped" in the basement while the tornado sirens went off and then the girls camped in the basement for weeks after that just because it was fun.

We ate ice cream. Lots and lots of ice cream. And made s'mores with Reeses cups and Hershey's bars at Micheletti Marshmallow Mondays.

And then, before we knew it, summer came to an end.

Can you come back soon summer? We miss you already.

Making progress . . .

2011-09-05T22:18:00.000-07:00

Michal's walls have been painted pink, or more accurately Benjamin Moore's Powder Blush. I love the color and so does she.

The girls' peasant paintings, purchased in China, have been hung above the chairs. (Since most of the things in their old room were in pairs we're trying to keep the pairs together but divide the things between their rooms.)

The paintings are all of the same riverside village during four different seasons. Since Kenna and Michal were born at the end of December, I hung Winter first since that's the season their lives began.

Their Joybucket dolls are seated on shelves on the wall. (We had lots of discussion about where the dolls were going to live. Since they match Michal's room they ended up in there with the stipulation that Kenna's doll gets to sit on the top shelf.)

Next up is a new mattress -- the old one got damaged while being stored in the garage -- choosing bedding from the three options I have right now; having day bed bedding made and figuring out window treatments.

Day

2011-09-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

The Drive-in Movie Theater

Our end-of-summer tradition.

When we pulled into the theater I asked the girls if they remembered what movie we saw at the end of last summer.

They both replied, "ET!"

Then I asked, "Do you remember what it was about?"

Kenna answered, "Of course. It was about a lizard."

Sorry Mr. Spielberg. I guess that whole boy-finds-alien-and-helps-him-get-home-again plot was lost on her. In her defense, ET does kind of look like a lizard.

Day 240

2011-08-28T17:12:00.000-07:00

August 28, 2011

11:25 a.m.

Prairie Summer

Happy Birthday Grandma Jan!

2011-08-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

Happy, happy birthday Grandma Jan!

We hope you had a wonderful, special day.

First Day of School Celebration Dinner.

2011-08-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had our third annual First Day of School Celebration Dinner. (You can see our Kindergarten Celebration here and our First Grade Celebration here.) This year we invited our good friends to join us, which made it especially fun.

I made a dining-room-doorway garland out of vintage copies of "Take Me to the Zoo," Dr. Seuss' classic "And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street" and a book from 1965 called "The Bus Trip." "The Bus Trip" cracked me up because it's about two kids, named Kennie and Bettina, who were put alone on a bus to Pennsylvania with an envelope of "traveling money" and a note with their home address and telephone number pinned to the inside of their shirts. Can you imagine? It has gorgeous black and white illustrations though that I just loved.

I made chalkboard place cards for the table and then perched an apple on each of the chalkboards. In the center of the table there was a vintage globe, a school bus and a bouquet of flowers on top of a pile of vintage books.

A fun aside about the globe . . . Kenna and Michal have always liked maps and globes. And thanks to Geo Master -- a great iPhone game -- they're much better at geography than I am!

So the girls and I decided to collect vintage globes and display them in their play room. Our first one, the one on the table, was found on etsy and just arrived.

And a great surprise was that the globe's cartographer shares our not-very-common last name!

The kids dressed up, played and ran around for awhile and then we had dinner -- fruit salad and fettuccine alfredo for the first-day-of-school celebrants and ceasar salad and lasagna for their parents.

After dinner there was more leaping, hopping, jumping, swinging, tree-house-climbing and general merry making before we had monogrammed chocolate cupcakes alfresco.

(The cupcakes were made with the Sprinkles cupcake mix from Williams-Sonoma. You add butter, eggs and milk to the mix and you have to follow the directions pretty precisely and make especially sure you don't over bake them. But it's worth the effort because they are simply divine.)

By the end of the evening the first day of school had been joyously celebrated and everyone had had a great time.

Happy First Day of School my big 2nd graders! And Happy First Day of School to new 1st and 3rd graders, Toby and Aanesera, too.

First Day of Second Grade.

2011-08-24T20:03:00.001-07:00

Day 235

2011-08-23T21:58:00.001-07:00

August 23, 2011

12:50 p.m.

Second Grade Eve
Kenna and Michal start second grade tomorrow. Second. Grade. How is that possible?

They had "Meet the Teacher" today and are absolutely elated that school starts tomorrow. We've bought -- and labeled -- a mountain of school supplies, a new backpack and a new lunch box. First day outfits have been picked out and I've filled out a small ream of forms times two. I still need to label their tennis shoes but can't find the sweaty-feet-proof Mabels Labels from last year. (One of the great joys of moving is not being able to find things you know you have.)

After I take the girls to school tomorrow, I'm baking chocolate cupcakes for our third annual Back-to-School Celebration dinner. Our good friends are joining us for the celebration, which will be really fun.

On the agenda today.

2011-08-08T22:13:00.000-07:00

1. Decorate cookies a la Martha. Hello red, white and blue sugar rush.

2. Slide down the Papa-powered slide into the lake. How's that for ingenuity?

3. Navigate the Dad and Uncle Obstacle Course as quickly as possible while laughing your head off.

4. And smile. All day long.

Happy Birthday Papa Dick!

2011-08-08T22:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday from two little girls currently leaping in the lake while yelling "Cannon ball!" (Actually "Kenna-ball" in Kenna's case.)

We hope it's a very special day!

Jump!

2011-08-07T22:18:00.000-07:00

Today the kids all did endless cannon balls off the end of the dock and then we tried -- unsuccessfully -- to use an air mattress as a trampoline and launch the kids into the lake. (This was Uncle Brent's idea!) It seemed like a good plan but the only people it actually launched into the water were the adults who jumped on the air mattress. Michal, our test pilot, didn't really move much at all but laughed her head off the whole time.

And this is Foster teaching Kenna how to break rocks to make spears. She helped him make a whole bucket of weapons. This totally cracked me up and is so my girl -- as girly as they come but able to hang with the boys!

On to Lake Inez

2011-08-06T16:26:00.000-07:00

We started our day today at the Big Fork Art Festival. The streets were lined with white tents and crowds of people filled the streets. The girls, and their cousin Miya, got feathers put in their hair at the festival. The three them now look very artsy-hippy-groovy and are thrilled about their new feathery look!

When we were walking down the street we met three little girls selling frozen lemonade pops -- very enterprising of them! It turns out that they're triplets and they were also adopted from China. They live in California but spend their summers in Montana. (Sign me up for that plan!)

After the Art Festival, we stopped and picked up a homemade lemon meringue and a homemade huckleberry pie to take to the cabin and then headed to the lake.

We were at the cabin for just minutes before the girls had on bathing suits and were leaping off the dock, asking to go in the boat, playing UNO with their cousins and swinging in the hammock.

Hello week at the lake. We're so glad you're here.

The pink and green dresses are from Costco. They are so cute! And they were very inexpensive too.

42 Degrees North.

2011-08-05T23:03:00.000-07:00

If you've never been to Northwestern Montana, add it to your list of "Places You Really Should Visit Someday."

It really is amazingly beautiful and amazingly unpopulated. When we were driving in to Montana from Idaho, we came up over a ridge and Eric remarked, "Now I can breathe."

Montana has that effect on you.

Today we poked around downtown Big Fork and the girls swam in the lake.

We had an afternoon thunderstorm blow through and after dinner we went to see "Guys and Dolls" at the Big Fork Summer Playhouse.

Tomorrow is the Big Fork Festival of the Arts and then tomorrow afternoon we're off to the lake where Eric's parents have a cabin. All three of Eric's brothers will be there and the girls will have three of their cousins to play with, which they're very excited about.

And I'm excited to sit by the lake and read the four books I brought!

"Eat Breakfast at Midnight Day."

2011-08-04T20:46:00.000-07:00

Kenna and Michal have declared that August 3rd is "Eat Breakfast at Midnight Day." Find your local Denny's, order a Grand Slam and join in the fun!

Now we don't normally eat dinner at midnight -- in fact last night was the very first time -- but Kenna and Michal thought chocolate chip pancakes and scrambled eggs in the wee hours of the morning were just too much fun to not turn into an annual tradition. (The jury's still out on if we'll be repeating our late night dining adventure next year.)

And why, you may be wondering, were we eating at midnight? Well, that would be because we flew to Salt Lake last night, drove to our hotel, went to check in only to be told that our reservation was for the night before and the hotel was completely sold out. The Outdoor Retailer Summer Market is in town and it's the largest convention in Utah. Who knew? And that means that all the other hotels in town were sold out too. And all the hotels in Ogden -- an hour away -- and in Pocatello, Idaho -- two hours away -- and in every other nearby and kind-of-nearby town we could think of were also sold out. We finally did find a room at Le Ritz -- that was the real name of our swanky accommodations -- in Idaho Falls, more than three hours away. And after finding a place to stay, the two junior members of our family decided they were so hungry they couldn't possibly go one more minute without food.

And in that moment, at a Denny's in downtown Salt Lake City, "Eat Breakfast at Midnight Day" was born.

At 1:00 a.m., filled with breakfast food, we got in the car and headed to Idaho Falls. It was a very long three hour and fifteen minute drive.

This morning we headed to Montana, where we'll be for the next week and a half. We're in Big Fork for the next couple days, which just happens to be one of my very favorite places in the whole world.

Big Fork sits on the shores of Flathead Lake and is known for wonderful cherries. We drove by three stands before stopping for a box full. I then proceeded to ignore Eric's warnings to not eat too many and give myself a stomach ache.

Our night ended with moose tracks ice cream for the girls and a piece of huckleberry pie a la mode for Eric and me.

Divine.

Day 205

2011-07-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

July 24, 2011

3:21 p.m.

Duncan Fine-O-Meter in Downtown Geneva

Where does she get these things?

2011-07-21T09:23:00.000-07:00

"Did you know wearing sunglasses inside is very fashionable?

- Michal, said with sunglasses perched on her nose while dealing a game of UNO for us to play.

Lake day.

2011-07-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

We went to Michigan today with my friend Michelle and her daughter and son. Kenna and Michal adore her kids and they all get along so well and always have a great time together.

Our first stop in Michigan was for ice cream at Oinks.

There is nothing like Oinks. The entire ceiling is covered with ice cream scoops and there are stuffed pigs, ceramic pig, pig glasses, pig trays and pig mugs. They also have awesome vintage ice cream memorabilia on display including the cutest toy ice cream trucks.

They also have really good ice cream.

Next we headed to the beach at Warren Dunes. We happened to pick what, I am absolutely positive, was the hottest day of the year. It was really unbelievably hot even right beside the water. The kids spent the entire time swimming in the lake and could have cared less that it was hot. I, on the other hand, hid under an umbrella!

We ended our day at The Stray Dog for dinner, which was a great way to finish our Michigan day!

Day

2011-07-19T19:35:00.000-07:00

July 19, 2011

2:10 p.m.

BFFs

2011-07-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

Chinapalooza Five

2011-07-08T19:12:00.000-07:00

We arrived at the Shawnee Resort in The Appalachian Mountains last night for our annual travel group reunion. Minutes after we arrived I got stung in the stomach by a menacing wasp and spent the next few hours with ice on the sting. I still have no idea how I got stung -- especially on my stomach -- but dang did it hurt.

This morning we woke up to cloudy skies and rain -- and less wasp-sting pain -- but the resort has an inside pool so the girls and Eric swam while I read a magazine poolside.

It stopped raining in the late afternoon and we headed to nearby Portsmouth where we found a brewery that served great pizza!

After our late lunch we stopped at The Dairy Bar for ice cream before we heading back to the Resort and our first reunion event outside at the pool.

The girls were really excited to see their China cousins and we were thrilled to see their parents!

Day

2011-07-06T16:03:00.000-07:00

July 5, 2011

6:45 p.m.

My beautiful girl.

Independence Day.

2011-07-04T22:00:00.000-07:00

Good friends.

Good food.

A twisty two-story inflatable slide.

And an inflatable obstacle course.

Swimming until all 10 fingers and toes turn pruney.

Dancing The Macarena.

And the Hokey Pokey.

The Electric Slide.

And The Chicken Dance.

And, of course, throwing your arms into the air to form the letters Y-M-C-A while the Village People sing their hearts out.

Blankets and chairs on the grass.

Glow-in-the-dark bracelets.

Lots of bug spray.

And finally, ear-splitting, completely-blinding, ooh-and-aah-inspiring fireworks while "I'm Proud to be an American" plays in the background.

Happy Fourth of July!