Our Vacation Music Video!

We took vacation.  A pretty cool one at that.

12 states

2 countries

2 silly little girls

2 fun-loving parents

1 AWESOME vacation!!!

So, to remember our fun-filled time, we created a music video of our journey.

This is our Holiday Road!

~~ Bailey

Ladybug Turned 7!!!

Hard to believe how quickly time is flying by.  We were in China almost 7 years ago, and now my "baby" is turning 7 years old.  The Ladybug is so happy to no longer be toddler (though I am really missing that phase with her,, and yes I know she passed that phase a few years ago), and moving very quickly into becoming a young lady.

At seven years old she loves school, is reading incredibly well, loves watching Doctor Who with the family, enjoys time by herself (away from her sister), enjoys being a tween with the silly attitude that comes with it, plays on her (dad's) IPod, is totally into peace signs, tie-dye, and sparkles, and thinks that her family is the greatest thing in the world.  I love this age, though I do long for the time when she was younger.  She is such a studious little girl who really enjoys school.  She is a kid who loves to make her family happy.  She is amazing.

For her birthday, Daddy and I decided the best gift for her would be something to help with her studies.  Her very own desk.  Daddy was crossing his fingers with this gift, feeling that it could be hit-or-miss with whether she liked it or not.  However, his worry was useless.  She LOVES her new desk!

The Ladybug did enjoy a fun party with her friends.  We all went bowling and enjoyed a fun afternoon of falling pins, pizza, cake, and presents. 

The Butterfly trying her hand at bowling.

Yummm, pizza (click to see larger images)!

Time for cake!

(A friend of the Ladybug's who looks an awful lot like my niece).

Presents!

Friends!

  

The ladybug's 7th birthday was such fun!  The girls all seemed to enjoy themselves thoroughly.  I still just cannot believe that she is 7!!!

~~Aloha

A Doctor "Who-loween"

Each day that I log into my computer I look up at my bookmarks bar and see the link to my blog... the one I used to update at least weekly.  I look at the the link, look at the name, and feel as though I have failed.  Failed because I haven't taken the time to update the blog for not only friends and family, but also for my girls with all of their cherished memories.  And, once I quit updating, I found it all too easy to continue with the pattern.

But, I don't like it.  I want to be able to share the fun memories my girls are creating.  I want to be able to chronicle their childhood.  After all, memories are fleeting.  But once something is written down, it becomes a part of "forever."  It becomes a permanent memory that our family can remember for years to come.  So, as my first post back in the blog world, I thought it fun to share Halloween, 2012.
 

 

As some may remember, my family enjoys the show Doctor Who.  As a matter of fact, last year I posted about the interest that the Butterfly had in the show one day when it was playing.  We called her the latest Whovian.  So this year, sometime in September, I asked the girls what they wanted to be for Halloween.  The Ladybug shared that she wanted to be Amy Pond from Doctor Who!  I chuckled at the thought of her becoming the Doctor's latest companion, red-headed no less.  I then asked, with a bit of humor, "What would you like to be little Butterfly?  The TARDIS (the Doctor's time machine)?"  Without hesitation, the Butterfly exclaimed, "YES!!!"  So, that is how it all started.

I soon spent some time trying to figure out how in the world I was going to create a TARDIS that could fit my three-year-old.  My first thought was a box, painted blue, with a hole in the top for her head.  But then I did an internet search and saw all sorts of creative outfits that had been created by women, and rather than boxes, they wore dresses.  Blue, swaying dresses that looked like the TARDIS.  I knew then that is what I wanted to create for the Butterfly.

 

For the Ladybug, I decided to create the one very distinctive Amy Pond outfit, that of the kissogram Police Officer.  Of course, the Ladybug loved the idea!  So, she and I went to the fabric store and searched for fabric for her and her sister's outfits.  We found the perfect fabric, a pattern that would work for both girls' outfits, and all of the trim that we needed to create the costumes.

The process began with the cutting of the pattern and pinning the fabric to it.  Finally the sewing began.  Each night I did a little bit more on the dresses, and at the end of each night the Butterfly would ask if her TARDIS dress was completed... yet.  She was so excited to watch the creation of her dress, each day asking the same question.

After a little while I had a partial dress that I wanted her to try on for me so that I could check the fit and see if there were any alterations I needed to make.  Of course she jumpred at the chance to put on the dress and model it for me.  The Butterfly smiled from ear to ear with joy as she walked around the house in her new, albeit unfinished, TARDIS dress.
 

 

  

It didn't take long though before I completed the dress and moved onto the Ladybug's costume.  She was also so excited as each piece came together.  She also loved the UPS guy because each day (at least it seemed that way), he would deliver another piece of her costume... police belt, white shirt, boots, etc.

 

 

Before we knew it, Halloween, "Who-loween" was here.  The girls eagerly dressed in their new costumes and joyfully bounced around the house, playing their Doctor Who roles.  Before long, daddy also emerged from the bedroom dressed as the Doctor himself, just the perfect person to take the girls trick-or-treating.  Below are some photos from the evening.  As you can see, the night was a complete success.  Who knew that dressing as a time maching and a traveling companion would bring such joy to two little girls.

 Enjoy!

~~Aloha!

A Night With the Girls

This is finals week for Daddy, which means he has a few late nights so that he can do a couple review sessions with some of his students. Thus, mommy is hanging out with the girls all by herself and having a blast!

When we first arrived home the girls both received some mail from Nana F.  They were both so excited to receive something that was addressed specifically for them.  What was even cooler was that each card came filled with stickers for the girls to play with however they saw fit.  Well, that was all the Butterfly needed to know.  She immediately started tattooing her arm with the stickers and had a blast!  They may have been a short lived gift, but they were thoroughly enjoyed!

Tonight we made some delicious noodles, salad, and fruit for dinner. The Butterfly decided to help me with making dinner. Specifically, she played with and ate some olives while I cut them up to go in the noodles (yup, I know... big help!). What was so cute was what she did with the olives. She found the perfect spot for them... on her nubbin. Gotta love how this girl can now give me a thumbs up!

After cleaning up we played a few games. We did play a few rounds of Hungry Hippos, but the girls' favorite game was the caterpillar/chopstick game (as they like to call it!). All three of us had a blast playing the game and often giggled along the way.

What a fun night. I love spending time with my girls!

(By the way, I am not really sure why the Butterfly has decided that she needs to squint when she smiles, but it is pretty funny and she is very consistent.)

~~Aloha!

The Chickens are Coming!

We have been in the process of getting our landscaping done for the last few months. Finally, this last week the entire process came to a close... we now have a landscaped yard! Grass, rocks, plants, and some trees. Ahhhhhh, I am so glad the dirt is gone! But, the week before the complete yard renovation, the landscaper suggested that we visit our local nursery to choose a few trees and plants that we liked. No big deal, right?

The four of us loaded into the car and headed out to the nursery. This is the middle of September in the Midwest, so how crowded could the place be, right? Wrong! We barely found a parking place on the edge of the property which left us wondering, what in the heck is going on at a nursery in the middle of September? When we got to the door we found out immediately, a farmer's market and pepper roasting. Yum!

We wandered in as the sweet smell of freshly roasted peppers wafted past. So far, this was a great visit! We made our way through the nursery, past the pepper roasting, and out to the area where all of the trees and bushes are located. We wandered around for a bit, then were approached by an employee who answered many questions and offered some great suggestions. During this time, the girls wandered in and out of the aisles of trees, playing hide-and-seek with each other. They were in heaven! They even got to try some apples off of some of the trees (the leading reason why we are now the proud owners of an apple tree... plus, more to come in Spring next year!). After a few minutes the employee thought we would probably like to see some trees a bit farther back on the nursery lot. He said that he would meet us there (pointing to a particular area of the lot) while he went to go grab some food for the chickens. Wait... did he say chickens?!?!? Hmmmm...

We walked over to the particular area pointed out to us by the guy and started looking at the trees, but I swear that I must have misheard the guy because I definitely didn't see any chickens. After a few minutes, the employee returned, with a cob of fresh corn and an tomato in hand. Yup, I definitely misheard him, chickens do not eat tomatoes. It was at that moment that he started calling for the chickens, the same way someone would call for a dog... "Here chicken, chicken, chicken!" And that's all it took to make them all start coming out of every nook and cranny within the trees. About twenty chickens trotted eagerly toward the employee who folded back the corn husks and handed the cob to the Ladybug. She looked at him and asked, "What am I supposed to do with this?" We all laughed. She soon learned to hold the cob out for the chickens who feasted on the fresh, raw corn. I asked why he brought the tomato, to which he said, "The chickens like tomatoes too!" He handed me the tomato and sure enough, the chickens came running.

Interestingly, there was even a half-chicken, half-turkey hybrid. Daddy commented that if we could mate that bird with a duck we would have the perfect Thanksgiving meal of a turducken! You can see the half-chicken, half-turkey in the photo below... they are the ones no feathers on their long, red necks.

We stayed in the area, feeding the chickens for about thirty minutes. The Ladybug loved every minute of it... a "chicken whisperer" in the making! Unfortunately, the Butterfly didn't quite have the same reaction. No, she screamed at the top of her lungs, terrified the feathery creatures were going to peck on her instead of the corn. The only thing that made her feel better... Daddy of course! (I did ask they employee why they had chickens in the nursery. Turns out they were purchased a few years back to get rid grasshoppers and other bugs that liked to nibble on the plants. Cool!)

Notice the Butterfly running toward Daddy, crying for help!

To answer your question, yes we did choose some wonderful trees and bushes that are now planted in our yard... Woohoo!!! But, the day was so different than we expected, so much better than we expected. We thought we would go to the nursery, pick out a couple trees and leave, thirty minutes tops! Not... even... close. We ended up enjoying a great petting zoo-type of experience with the girls feeding the chickens and playing hide-and-seek in the trees. Of course we did enjoy some of the freshly roasted peppers and all of the fresh fixins' (homemade salsa and chips!) that were oh-so-delicious. Honestly, who knew that our local nursery was so awesome! Okay, silly question... we are probably the only people in town who didn't know how cool this nursery is, but we know now and you can be sure that we will be back often!

I don't want to post about the landscaping quite yet, but I did want to share one photo from the day they landscapers rolled the sod. The Butterfly was so excited to watch every minute detail of the happenings of the day. She walked out on the patio, still in her pajamas, apple juice in hand and just gazed at the transformation taking place before her eyes.  Truth be told, she was also grooving out to the music playing from the stereo they brought with them to keep them going throughout the long day!  I snapped this photo of the Bug, watching one of the workers, who was also watching her off and on dance excitedly to the music.  You can see him in the photo, looking at the Bug, smiling as she is watching his with great, big eyes.

Yup, we enjoyed a couple of fun days.  I love where we live!

~~Aloha!