Our Little Bag Ladybug

The Ladybug is very creative when it comes to her wardrobe. Don't get me wrong, she is very good in the mornings when she comes up with outfits to wear for the day out in public. Everything is color coordinated perfectly, including her socks, shoes, and hair accessories. However, everything changes when she gets back home in the afternoons and is allowed to just go hog wild... and boy does she ever!

Today, after we arrived home, she asked if she could wear her princess outfit. I said, "Sure, no problem," and she immediately went to her room on got dressed into an absolutely adorable purple dress. A few minutes ago though, she walked into the living room with a few added accessories: knee length purple socks (perfectly color coordinated as usual), old tennis shoes, a bright green Yo Gabba Gabba sweatshirt, and a colorful floppy hat. She was pushing her doll stroller with a couple bags flung over the handles. Needless to say, I started laughing. She is just a hoot!



Checking out her "fancy" shoes.








I just love her creativity!

~~Aloha

My Little Tub Bug

The little Ladybug just adores her time in the tub. She splashes, plays, laughs, draws, practices her floating skills, and eventually spends so much time in there that the water has turned cool and she is very pruney. She doesn't care though... she is a water kid who probably spent a past life as a fish. A silly, giggly, funny, little fish.




My absolute favorite time is immediately after her bath (she loves is too). While wrapped in her towel she cuddles up on my lap to get dry and keep warm. With the Bug growing up so quickly, this precious time together, cuddling on the couch, is the one moment in the day that reminds me of when she was a baby. Oh, sometimes I miss those days, but wow... I love the little girl that she is turning into. So, as she keeps growing up, I will still cherish our after-tub cuddles on the couch.


I just love my Little Tub Bug!

~~Aloha

I ♥ Faces - Week 19 - Blurb Book Photo Contest

This week's theme at I ♥ Faces is to choose a photo that I feel is my best "face" photo, one that I feel is good enough for thee upcoming photo book. It did not take me long to decide... I chose this picture of Liliana when she was almost 1 year old. Her eyes are so soulful, they just pull me in and make me want to wrap my arms around her. I hope you enjoy this photo as much as I do. Thank you for stopping by the website.



I am submitting this photo into the www.iheartfaces.com Blurb book photo contest. If chosen, I grant I ♥ Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ♥ Faces web sites.

~~Aloha

Preparation... Conversations

For the past few months, we have been planning a summer family vacation to Belgium to visit some friends. The Ladybug is very aware of our plans and excited to be traveling again to some far off location.

A few weeks ago we mailed off the appropriate documentation to obtain Liliana's U.S. passport. It finally arrived in the mail a couple days ago, and upon opening the envelope, Liliana squealed with excitement and exclaimed, "I'm so excited, now we can go to Belgium... come on, let's go!!!" After laughing our tushies off for a few minutes, we explained to the Bug that we would not be leaving just yet. We still had to wait until mommy was finished teaching for this school year (about a month). She replied, "It is hard waiting." I agree kiddo.

Yesterday, when I picked Liliana up from school I mentioned to her that her outfit was adorable and that we should probably take it with us to Belgium. Well, she took that comment as a command. As soon as we returned home, she stole away to her bedroom and started packing. After being in her room for about 30 minutes she came out to ask if we would be staying all night in Belgium... to which I replied, "Yes dear, we will be staying many nights in Belgium." She squealed with excitement... again, and then finished her packing, making sure to include some pants, shirts, shorts, dresses, panties, PJs, books, a blanket, and several stuffed animals (the absolute essentials).

This evening I after dinner, Liliana decided that she would finish her packing and start her traveling. She got all of her bags together, slung her backpack over her shoulder, walked out the door and said goodbye. I asked where she was going, and she squealed with excitement (yet again) and said, "I'm going to Belgium, I want to go now! Bye mommy." After laughing (again), I grabbed my camera and snapped the following pictures of the Bug on her way out the door.







By the way, she didn't get very far. With temps outside in the low fifties and dropping fast, Liliana made it as far as the garage before she turned around. She is now inside, nice and warm, figuring out how she will make it to Belgium tomorrow.

~~Aloha

A Mother's (Lucky) Day

Our Mother's Day weekend was spent together as a family, enjoying each other's company. I looked at Liliana throughout the day and thought about how blessed I am to be her mother. She is such a remarkable little girl with so much love. She makes it her daily mission to shower us with lots of hugs and kisses. The Lord blessed us by bringing us together as a family. Thank you!

The weekend though, took on an unexpected turn for another mother... a mother bunny that lives in our yard.

Like most Spring and Summer weekends, daddy was outside mowing the rapidly growing lawn to make it look gorgeous and inviting (with all of the last season snow, this was the first opportunity he had to finally mow the yard). After successfully tackling the front yard, he moved on to the back to finally bring the overgrown jungle under control.

Upon mowing the perimeter, he mowed over a patch of long grass, and suddenly saw a puff of grey fur explode out from under the mower. He pulled the mower back and also noticed a grey spot on the ground about 9 inches in diameter. Upon a closer inspection he saw some movement... and then he panicked. He quickly turned off the mowed and knelt down for a closer look. What he saw stunned him.





The grey patch happened to be a rabbit hole nursery where 8 baby rabbits were resting. Although the lawn mower completely mowed over the baby rabbits, not one single rabbit was injured because they were tucked down into the whole safely, only about an inch away from the mower blades. Woohoo!!!

Upon hearing the commotion outside, Liliana and I went out to investigate. Liliana squealed with excitement when she saw the little bunnies. She just adored the rabbits, and was so excited to see new life in our yard. Almost immediately though, one of the babies started hopping around... very quickly. Because the lawn still needed to be mowed, we chose to place the bunnies in a box to keep them safe until the yard work was completed (after all, we made it by once without injuring a bunny, we didn't want to tempt fate). At this point, we did notice the mother bunny haning around the yard, keeping an eye on us and her babies.







A few hours later we placed the bunny family back into their whole, one on top of the other, cuddled close to stay warm. We covered them with some of mother bunny's fluff as well as some of the new grass clippings. We weren't sure that the mother would return... after all, we had "messed" with her babies. But, much to our surprise and excitement, she did return only a few minutes later to feed her babies and keep them safe. It really was a special Mother's Day after all.





~~Aloha

I ♥ Faces Week 18 - Laughter

This weeks theme at I ♥ Faces is Laughter, and what a wonderful theme it is. There are so many wonderful photos already posted at the website, I cannot imagine trying to find just one to choose as a winner. For my selection I chose a photo taken last August of Liliana and her cousin playing and laughing on the floor. The two girls are just adorable and had so much fun that day. I cannot imagine another photo that would show their joy and love for each other any better. I hope you enjoy the photo.


If you get the chance to visit I ♥ Faces, please do. There are some great photos of the joy of laughter.

~~Aloha

Kids Will Be Kids... OR... Budding Artist

Most days after work I pick up the Bug from school. After a quick greeting from the teacher, Liliana then normally greets me with a great big SQUEAL and hug, totally excited to see me and eager to spend the rest of the day with me. Today though, was a little bit different.

As soon as I walked in the door I was greeted by my daughter's favorite teacher, Ms. A. Her normal greeting for me usually is something simple like,

"Hi, how are you today?"

Instead, today I received,

"Oh hi... you are probably never going to want to bring Liliana here ever again."

All that I could think of in that brief moment was,

"Well, that's not a good start!"

She proceeded to explain that the kids were drawing pictures today... with markers, while she was at lunch. When she arrived back from her meal, she saw that a few of the kiddos had decided to expand their coloring surfaces to include... their bodies! Yes, you guessed it, Liliana used marker to "tattoo" her arms. Now, I am not exactly sure if this activity should be filed under Kids will be kids, or just that Liliana is a Budding artist. None-the-less, the little Bug knew as soon as I walked in the door that I would probably react to her interesting artwork. React I sure did! I ran and grabbed my camera to preserve the moment on film (not quite the reaction that both Liliana and the teacher were expecting!).

Below are some photos and video of my tattooed little girl. So, you make the call, is this just a Kids will be kids moment, or would you label Liliana a Budding artist?

She really does look so sweet and innocent in this picture... that is until you look at her arms!


A little girl, admiring her work.



Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

~~Aloha

Slumber Party

A couple times per month, we like to offer the Ladybug a special Slumber Party with either daddy or mommy. The "party" often takes place in our king-size bed, with the other parent slumbering in our guest room. Liliana earns this special treat by displaying good behavior at home as well as in public and at school. This past weekend Liliana enjoyed one of those exclusive nights, and she chose to enjoy her slumber with mommy (Woohoo!!!).

We started the evening by sharing "secret stories," which were just some special memories from our past. We then sang several songs... and giggled our way through them in the process. Finally, I decided to capture this special evening on film, so I took some photos of the Bug (I just love finding any excuse to play with my camera). Below are some of my favorite shots from our special evening. Enjoy!














Gosh... I LOVE my daughter!!!!!

~~Aloha

I Heart Faces - Week 17

This is my entry for the I ♥ Faces weekly contest. I am a new visitor and contributor to this site, but am eager to continue my weekly visits for future contests as well as photography hints and tricks.

The theme this week is "Hats," and this photo immediately came to mind when I discovered the theme. As you can tell, our little Bug is pondering some very important thoughts in this photo.



I am posting my entry for the I ♥ Faces weekly contest which can be found at the following link, www.iheartfaces.com. Visit the site if you get a chance, there are some wonderful entries this week.

~~Aloha

Observation

On a little walk today to the park, the Ladybug made an interesting observation.

"Daddy, bird poops are white... my poops are brown, ewwwww."

You gotta hand it to her, that little girl has a keen sense of observation.

~~Aloha