haircut!

I loved Daniel's long curls. But his hair was so soft that it would break off where the rubber band held it in a ponytail. It kept getting in his eyes and so it was time for a haircut. Being pregnant and all, I got more choked up than he did. When it was all cut he kept shaking his head. It must have felt very different!




My baby is grew up 2 years in 10 minutes!


Where did this little boy come from?

Snapshot Sunday

Last Sunday Em, D and I went to play with cousins while Tuan worked very hard at re-arranging the rooms in our house. The bedroom is now upstairs, the toy room is now downstairs and the old toy room is now the living room. So these are the only shots I got by the time the day was over.




But I have to say the new closet space is nice!

Fruits and Breakfast

A friend of mine ordered two fruit baskets and two breakfast sets from me. They looked so pretty and colorful when I packaged them up.


Another link to my etsy store - sorry about the broken link last time.















July 2009

Right this minute

This book was recommended to me by my sister. It really is a great book. We found each of the animals that are in our stuffed animal collection. Alas the snowman was not in the book lol) The other day Emma was teasing me with the pages full of pictures of spiders and beetles. Get it for your kids quick - it's out of print now. They'll love it!








July 2009

bike

Emma's bike tires were, to say the least, very worn out. They bulged and her front kept going flat. Also her chain was dry and kept falling off - a major pita to put back on while 7 mos pregnant in the middle of an alley. So I decided that it was time for some professional help. We took it to a bike shop and they tightened and greased the chain and put two new tires on. And her new tires are tube-less so they will never go flat!

I also got her a bike basket so he could carry her own water bottle to the park. Of course, she had her own ideas about what to carry in the basket!


It's so much easier for her to ride now. If only I could keep up with her!

Happy Birthday Daddy! We want to sing you songs!


And now it's your turn, Daddy! Sing us a song!












July 2009

Little heat seekers.

A game Emma made up. Each of us took turns being the teacher. Holding the pencil was mandatory. We learned such very important things like what to do when someone says STOP! And what to do in a ballet class. Important stuff!

Emma helped me pick the apricots that another freecycler so generously gave away and Daniel helped me mash them for the jam.

Face painting at the city park was $1 but mommy can do it for free. Hence the amateur rainbow on her cheek. (By the time I had finished the star and heart and horse and butterfly on her legs I was much improved! lol) New favorite horse courtesy of most recent garage sale? Check. Sweet dreams!













July 2009

Right this minute

What do you suppose they are conspiring to do?










July 2009

Don't cry over spilled rice?

Remember this snapshot sunday pic?



When my electric k-tec mill died, Tuan opened it up and tried to fix it. Unfortunately it needed professional help. So $40 later an electrician had replaced the started switch and something else and it ran great again. Then part of the plastic latch clip on one side broke. No problem, I can hold it tight as it mills. The a crack started up from the broken side. Then it just stopped working - right at the beginning of spring when all of the electricians are super busy with the farmers and their electric irrigation systems. Bugger. I talked it over with Tuan and I convinced him that this was really the perfect opportunity to get a new mill that had never had wheat milled in it. (My k-tec was from our pre-gluten-free days) So I researched and found the perfect mill. It was $300! So I researched some more and found a much more affordable hand crank mill. I want both so that I don't have to rely on the electricity to mill grains. So I bought the hand mill (won't mill popcorn though, bummer) and am saving up to buy the electric one.

I really like my mill. Millet, buckwheat and teff are nice soft grains and mill up relatively quickly. Rice - ugh! Rice is a hard grain. You have to find the sweet spot to angle your body and turn the crank at the right speed or it will just jerk and stick all the way around. I was getting frustrated with how hard I was having to work and jerked a bit to hard. The entire mill came off of the table and dumped at least a cup and a half of rice on the floor along with the 1/2 cup I had already milled. Serves me right. lol

It's hard to see, but that is rice all over the floor. The kids thought it was fun to help me by pointing out all of the rice I was missing as I swept up!









July 2009

A fun game they invented. Em would 'catch' D and he would follow her around until his turn to 'catch' her when she would follow him around. What would normally annoy them is fine and fun if it's part of a game. lol Fun to watch!














July 2009

Little Gardeners

A local nursery has a really great fall tradition. Every year they build a "pumpkin patch". Here are some shots from last year. All year Emma asks when we are going to go back to the pumpkin patch.


tractor ride

straw maze

slide

rope bridge

Last Christmas they hosted a fireworks display complete with a live band and free chili dinner with a toy donation.

Unfortunately they just went out of business. I am quite sad for Emma to miss the pumpkin patch and I will miss the Christmas fireworks.

All of that to explain this next picture! lol

I found these little gardening sets for the kids. They love them!









July 2009

Max the cat and Mouse Trap

Daniel's favorite cooperative game is Max. The age recommendation is higher than his 2 years but I'm sure your 2-yr old would love it too!


The objective is to get the bird, chipmunk and mouse home to their tree before Max the cat catches and eats them. Max has four snacks that you can call him back to his porch to eat but once they are gone you can't call him back.

He never seems to be traumatized if one of the animals ends up in Max's tummy. However Emma - the 4-yr old who will loves Spiderwick Cronicles becomes nearly inconsolable if she loses one of her animals to Max's tummy. Go figure! lol

Another favorite of D's is Mouse Trap. He plays this game all the time and can nearly set it up entirely by himself! Although there have been times when I thought his mouse trap playing days were over after he got too careless with the steel balls and I just couldn't move the couch one more time!


Oh yeah - Twister's a hit too!












July 2009
Seriously - who doesn't think pictures of their toddler playing twister are cute!

Killer Bees

"Mommy,can I watch a movie? The one with the killer bees."

Killer bees?

"Yeah, and she is staying with a little girl that has a dog. And the dog is trying to eat the killer bees. And the other two are trying to stop the tractors that are trying to tistroy the killer bees that are about to bloom."

Oooooooh, you mean the TwillerBeas? Barbie Thumbelina? Sure, Emma you can watch it.

Cousins came to vist!

They gathered lots of stuff for a picnic (the sweet peas and lettuce was all that was acutally edible lol)






And set it up with care - well, the two-year old didn't care to be so careful. lol




How cool are these swingers, eh?













July 2009

I remember what fun it was each summer to jump on our cousin's trampoline with the sprinkler underneath. And it seems that my kids love the very same activity!












July 2009

music

Emma asked me to teach her how to play her violin. She hasn't showed much interest in it lately so I was excited for the request. And I learned that she has grown out of her violin. She needs a bigger one. I think that Daniel will get her current one. She is very good at keeping her bow on one string at a time now. And her bow hold (when she wants to hold it correctly) is looking really nice!


I was practicing a piece I will be performing at a friends church when the kids came and brought me some flowers.


And then they decided to play their instruments with me. So here is the illustrious bells, drum and viola. (ignore my mistakes, please lol)










July 2009

Random Observation

Mug Root Beer cans have a picture of a dog on them




while Barq's Root Beer doesn't.




I find that funny.

Coincidentally, Mug is gluten-free and Barq's isn't.

Snapshot Sunday

Have I mentioned that I love freecycle? Someone posted that they had some rhubarb free for the picking so I loaded up Emma and we went to pick rhubarb. And this is about half of what we picked!! I chopped and froze this and I am planning to make candied rhubarb with the rest. Yum!


So the same really nice person who gave us the rhubarb also gave picked us a tomato from his garden, gave us some of his aloe vera plant (I think because he was mildly impressed that I could identify the mint, oregano and garlic in his garden lol) and gave Emma a rose (I think because she is just so darn adorable lol)




lots and lots of swimming going on here in the hot weather!