insta-feb

If you've spent any time with instagram, you probably have run into this...

 

A photo prompt each day for a month.  

A creative way to capture life's moments,

and see how others have interpreted the daily photo prompt 

though their own lens.  

So here's my February...

coffee cake

She hasn't let me down yet.  PW continues to deliver in the scrumptious recipes department.  And this week, she came through again.  The best coffee cake. Ever, she calls it.  And it was good.  Although mine didn't turn out exactly like hers.  Maybe it had to do with the fact that I did a 2/3 recipe and I wasn't sure how long to cook it.  Do you ever do that?  Not have enough ingredients for a full recipe.  I was short on butter this time.  And seriously would have felt weird making a breakfast dish with 3 sticks of butter.  2 sticks seemed much more doable right?!?  Usually I would half it (much less math), but halving 3 eggs would be a chore so I busted out my 6th grade math brain and did a little fraction work.   The coffee cake brought me back to college days.  Saturday mornings the caf always served coffee cake.  Many a Saturday my girlfriends were running off campus to get bagels and I was stuck with my man eating bowls and bowls of cereal and coffee cake in the caf.  

PS- While we're on the subject of PW...You've got to read this post.  Not only odes she deliver in the scrumptious recipe department, she kills it in the laugh at yourself humor department.  

PB and J

 Ellie is honing her PB and J skills lately.  She scoots the chair up to the counter, climbs on, and gets to work.  2 pieces of bread, gobs of jelly (don't forget to lick the spoon..and maybe take a couple more spoonfuls while you're at it), and smooth (not chunky) peanut butter. She constructs the entire sandwich only to take the whole thing apart and eat both sides open face...jelly side first.  That's my girl..

Leighton paints

 I could stare at these little hands forever.  

Watch how they delicately hold the paintbrush.  

Predict which color they will  move to next.  

What pattern they will make on the paper.  

Wondering...

what goes on in that little mind of hers,

what she sees herself creating, 

what prompts her color choices,

and how she decides what shape to make next. 

She is a work of art.

fairy houses

 

The majority of Saturday was spent on creating these dainty dwellings for supposed fairies.  Brooklyn says, "I'm not sure if fairies exist (much like her uncertainty of Santa Claus at this point), but I'll know when I catch one."  Tiny beds from Popsicle sticks, scraps of fabric, and cotton balls.  Rugs made from leaves.  Notes welcoming "Fairy's Only".   A completely perfect place for a fairy to rest her wings don't you think?

Princess and the Pea

I always tease my girls that they are the Princess and the Pea.  Especially when it comes to their socks.  The slightest wrinkle will send them into a complete tizzy.  Then can feel a grain of sand or splinter of a woodchip as soon as they slide their shoes on.  Its real patience building for mom who isn't bothered by things like that in the slightest.  Anyway, Check this out...from P.O.S.H. I am in love!  Already crafting my own version (in my head for now).

There was once a prince, and he wanted a princess, but then she must be a real Princess. He travelled right around the world to find one, but there was always something wrong. There were plenty of princesses, but whether they were real princesses he had great difficulty in discovering; there was always something which was not quite right about them. So at last he had come home again, and he was very sad because he wanted a real princess so badly.
One evening there was a terrible storm; it thundered and lightninged and the rain poured down in torrents; indeed it was a fearful night.  In the middle of the storm somebody knocked at the town gate, and the old King himself went to open it.

It was a princess who stood outside, but she was in a terrible state from the rain and the storm. The water streamed out of her hair and her clothes; it ran in at the top of her shoes and out at the heel, but she said that she was a real princess.
'Well we shall soon see if that is true,' thought the old Queen, but she said nothing. She went into the bedroom, took all the bed clothes off and laid a pea on the bedstead: then she took twenty mattresses and piled them on top of the pea, and then twenty feather beds on top of the mattresses. This was where the princess was to sleep that night. In the morning they asked her how she slept.
'Oh terribly bad!' said the princess. 'I have hardly closed my eyes the whole night! Heaven knows what was in the bed. I seemed to be lying upon some hard thing, and my whole body is black and blue this morning. It is terrible!'
They saw at once that she must be a real princess when she had felt the pea through twenty mattresses and twenty feather beds. Nobody but a real princess could have such a delicate skin.
So the prince took her to be his wife, for now he was sure that he had found a real princess, and the pea was put into the Museum, where it may still be seen if no one has stolen it.
Now this is a true story.

Easy as A, B, C,

 

We're four weeks into our "cram for the kindergarten readiness test" program.  And doing quite well.  I could take credit for the fact that both girls (Ellie and even Leighton!)  know all their alphabet sounds.  Or I could give credit where its due, and thank Leap Frog and their genius, child captivating Letter Factory Video.  I don't know what it is about this thing, but they've done it right.  They should give a money back guarantee or something.  I'm telling you it works like a charm.  Any parent I've ever talk to about it, raves.   I've also been having fun with letter crafts from the Totally Tots website.  After taking major pressure off myself to have a rigorous home preschool curriculum, and just slipping in little things here and there, I've seen lots of growth and had fun too.    

Pressure off self...new motto that seems to be ebbing it way into several areas of my life.  And its a very good thing.  Especially for a girl who has had to live the last month without her stress releasers, my ex-bffs diet coke and coffee.  Week E... here we come.

Valentimes

Valentime's Day is almost here (I love it when kids call it that)!  Not wanting to add to the truckloads of sugar the kids get, I picked up these pencils (and some cute boy's ones too) from the dollar bin at Target.  10 pencils for a buck.  Whipped up a little note with some cute fonts from dafont.com (hundreds of free fonts folks), and there you go.  There are so many cute valentine ideas out there this year (thank you pinterest).  Here are some of my faves...

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Happy V Day everyone!

valentiny

As if Hershey Kisses weren't Valentiny enough...

Just use your favorite peanut butter cookie recipe, unwrap your candy hearts while the cookies are baking (I used Hershey's bliss heart shaped chocolates), try to resist eating them all, and gently press the chocolates in as soon as you take the cookies out of the oven.  The chocolate will get very melty so (once again) try to resist touching them.  They take about 12 hours to harden.

I will end there...and go console my crying 7 year old who is "heartbroken" that these were all given to her teachers this morning...

rain and a winner...

It was one of those days where I didn't even want to get out of the house.  Rare for me, as I am one to always be on the go.  But the forecast called for rain.  And because I am a good southern Californian, I did not dare venture out.  Rain kinda freaks us out.  People just don't go places because its raining.   I guess we don't like to get wet, and we don't have the necessary get to prevent it.  Not like it the PNW where rain boots and north face jackets are part of the every day wardrobe.  Now, my girls all do own rain boots and jackets but they are usually used for dress up clothes.  You know when you pretend its raining.  

Anyway, I was content to sip my tea (but much less content than if it was coffee, which I have sadly been forced to give up) and catch up on things by the light of my gooseneck lamp.   A lovely afternoon. 

And now for what you've all been waiting for....the winner is.... Amanda F.  Yeah!  You are the proud winner of your very own Katy Daisy greeting cards.  Please send me your email address so I can get them to you.  Thanks for all the encouraging comments folks...I appreciate you! 

I blog on...and a giveaway!

Lately, blogging has been on the back burner for me. 

I feel like I've got lots going on, and nothing going on at the same time.  Ever feel that way?

I guess I am just not really making the time like I have in the past to sit down and blog.  

Sometimes there's not much to say.  

Sometimes there's no photos to share.  

Sometimes there's no recipes, crafts, or thrifting finds that seem worth my time.  

And sometimes life just seems too repetitive and similar to write about.  

But then I look back at the 400+ posts that have made their way onto my blog.  

Memories and thoughts captured.

And for each one I am so thankful.

Thankful I took the time to write and post.  

So... I blog on.

Not to impress, 

not to outdo, 

not to draw attention, 

but to capture and share a moment of significance to me.  

A moment I don't want to let slip by and be forgotten.

A moment to be remembered.

And to celebrate 2 whole years of blogging...my first ever giveaway! Who doesn't love Katy Daisy?  I fell in love with the "You are My Sunshine" poster the second I saw it. So bright, cheery, and joyful, right?  Anyway, I was thrilled to find a set of Katy Daisy cards on a recent Marshall's run and am even more thrilled to get to share them with one of you!  Just leave a comment and you could be the lucky winner.  I'll take comments all day and announce the winner on Tuesday, February 9.  Good luck friends! 

Beauty and the Birthday

Brooklyn celebrated her birthday Beauty and the Beast style this year.  She got to take her sister Ellie, cousin Adina, and good friend Cielo, to see Beauty and the Beast in 3D. The girls munched popcorn for a steady hour and a half (only possible with bottomless movie theater popcorn), sang along (loud), and Ellie even got up to dance (music moves that girl).  I loved sitting in the middle of all of them and watching them soak it all in.  Then back to the house for a quick costume change in to her Belle dress (perfectly timely thrift store find, with minor alterations from a size 12 to a size 7) and pizza and cake with the family.  Once again Grandma did not disappoint with the beautiful Belle cake, and Brooklyn made a haul with her gifts (especially with Squinkies this year). 

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Happy Happy Birthday to the one who first made me a mommy 7 years ago.  

I am so proud of the little lady you are, and am so blessed to be your mommy. 

I love you Brooklyn!

love is...

Love is 

patient and kind

Love is not jealous,

it does not brag, and is not proud.

Love is not rude,

is not selfish,

and does not get upset with others.

Love is not happy with evil

but is happy with the truth.

Love does not count up wrongs that have been done.

Love patiently accepts all things.

It always trusts,

always hopes,

and always remains strong.

How are you celebrating love this February?