In November...

 she made an entire dollhouse set (including living room, family room, bedrooms, kitchen and attic) out of paper.  Yes, she has an actual toy dollhouse in the playroom, yes she's the creative type, yes she needs more paper, markers and scotch tape for Christmas.  Seriously, skip the toys!

 

 he got post bath snuggles from daddy

 

 we took a gazillion pictures for a our Christmas card (using my new camera and the timer) and settled on this one (after straightening every picture of course because apparently, a kitchen stool with a box on top of it doesn't make for the best tripod, ahem!)

 

 they made play-doh volcanoes and watched them erupt (I was a bit too involved with this part for pictures of the erupting part...)

 

 and floated tin foil boats in the kitchen sink

 

 they were thankful

 

we celebrated Thanksgiving (and shared some big news with family)

 

 and took the kids bowling

 

for the very first time!

A Tale of Two Trips: Part Two ~ The Sea

Finally, the long awaited 'Part Two' of A Tale of Two Trips or, you know, not.  :)  So, after I left the kids with my sister at the farm, I flew to Monterey, CA to join D for a long weekend and early Anniversary trip.  Needless to say, it. was. awesome! 

 

 (these little guys were everywhere!!)

 

 (this rock is a bird haven and permanently white, any guesses as to why??)

 

 (the lone cypress)

 

 (pebble beach golf course)

 

 (the 18th hole)

 

 (sunset at Carmel by the sea)

 

 (view from highway 1 coastal drive)

 

 

 (lots of elephant seals)

 

 (We debated finding and touring Hearst Castle which I had never heard of.  So glad we decided NOT to skip it!)

 

 

Apparently there was a zoo near the castle at one point and the tour guide said that a herd of zebras still roamed the pasture with the cattle.  We figured we'd never see them (there is a lot of acreage here) but as we headed back to our hotel we were surprised to see the zebra herd, baby zebras and all.  So cool!

 

Yeah, I could get used to this view!



A Tale of Two Trips: Part One ~ The Farm

I like living in the city.  I enjoy garbage pickup, city water, a 10 minute drive to Target and not having to drive on gravel roads.  But sometimes, I wonder if my kids are missing out on some of the perks and learning experiences that come with life on the farm.

 

Like outdoor cats (lots of them!),



brand new life,



 and, unfortunately, the hard lesson that not all new life makes it

(these kitties didn't survive despite great effort by A1 and A2),

 



the importance of good chore boots

(L and I Man are still talking about how this bull 'wasted his hay' by putting it in his own...well, you know...)

 

more kitties(!)



chicken chores,



and farm fresh eggs.



 

And so, I'm thankful to have a sister and brother-in-law living the farm life and willing to share it all with my kids.  And for their kids who are so kind and loving to their cousins and who tolerated them for a week (a week!). 

 

Thank you J, B and the A Team!

 

Wondering what this is all about? 

 

At the end of October, the kids and I dropped D off at the airport as he headed to California for work and we drove to my sister's house.  The farm.  I stayed for a few days before heading to California myself for a long weekend with D and my kids got a good dose of the farm life.  And while I promise we won't do it again anytime soon, it sounds like they had a blast!

 

Stay tuned for

A Tale of Two Trips: Part Two ~ The Sea

coming soon sometime.

ROY G BIV

Awhile ago, L mentioned wanting a rainbow cake for her birthday party this year.  We didn't talk much more about it after that so when I asked her again in October I'll admit I was hoping she still wanted a rainbow party.  And she did, yay!  I knew there were tons of rainbow themed ideas out there and they were relatively simple, too!  Win!  This party was super easy to throw together, especially when I decided that the 'meal' would be pizza!

 

First I whipped up an invitation:

 

 I used Microsoft publisher, colored font, clipart and this free rainbow background I found online.

 

For the cake, I originally thought I'd make a cake like this one but I was worried about the potential tippyness and ultimately, went with this one instead:

 

Aside from the time consumingness of this cake it was by far the. easiest. cake. I. have. ever. made!  I followed the tutorial almost exactly and I used gel food coloring for the vibrant colors...



before topping it with Martha Stewart's cream cheese frosting and I rainbow banner I found on clearance at target.

 

With the main dish for the party being delivered to my door (thank you, Dominoes!) all I had left to 'make'...



was this rainbow veggie platter (no, I couldn't think of any blue or purple veggies!)

 

and these rainbow fruit kabobs

 

L and I Man helped me sort out some candy to add to these clear containers and voila a rainbow themed lunch!



{Great Grandpa was creative using the fruit kabob skewers as chopsticks to pick up his tootsie roll (it didn't work with the M&Ms, not that he didn't try!)}

 

Games & Party Favors:



the kids made rainbow necklaces shortly after arriving and later we played rainbow beanbag toss using rainbow beanbags and hopscotch rings, both of which we already owned.  My pictures of the beanbag game didn't turn out but it was a fun and earned them their favor bags!

 

Which were brown paper bags sealed with this rainbow printable (the answer to this joke was 'rainbow.'  Oh and I used her 'happy birthday' banner as decoration, too!)



and rainbow goodies (watercolors, rainbow snack, ring pop, and glow ball)!

 

As for the decorations, there were rainbow colored puffballs hanging from the ceiling and 5 vases adorning the table each with a different colored flower (red, orange, yellow, blue, purple), none of which I took pictures of, boo!

 

I did however get pictures of the cousins,


and the presents,

 and of course, the cake!

 

Which was the highlight of the rainbow themed party, if I do say so myself!

And it tasted good, too!



'Officially, six!'