"b" happy

it feels like it has been a long time since i have been here. i think it has. the mister has been working a lot of hours and we barely get to see him, so the free moments i have had i've been spending with him. which leaves little or no time for me to blog. i have a lot to post, lots of pics, so this might be a long one - in pictures that is. as i was going through my pics, i noticed a lot of "b" things have happened in the past week or two. hence the title of my post "b" happy, because we are happy and here's why...

bicycles

my girl finally took off on her boy bike with no training wheels.

this was a happy father's day gift for the mister. (when she rides the boy bike she prefers to be called peter) she's such a little role player.

ballet

she performed in her first june ballet recital.

she was barbie in one of the two dances she performed in.

she was amazing. i will even go as far as saying she was the best, just for the sake of this post and she was, of course.

we are so proud of her. she's my sweet baby girl or i should say my sweet big girl.

she also performed in her hip hop dance, which was to a song from cars. her dances had one song in between them, so she had to do her first "quick change".

she's so brave.

breakfast

this little fella was way to cute the other morning at breakfast.

i couldn't help taking pictures of him while he ate his bowl of cereal.

he took big bites.

i just love this boy,

even when he blows bubbles in his milk.

sleeping beauty

how sweet is this? she sleeps like a little angel.

sister & brother + best buds

the boy and his books

playing in the backyard

blue shoes

bella (our dog)

hope you are having a great week and just for the sake of being korny,

"don't worry, be happy! (i'm sorry i had to say it)

my girl: avery

an interview with avery

how old are you: 6

what grade are you in: just finished kindergarten

what is your favorite:

color: yellow

animal: parrot

restaurant: corner bakery

number: 52216

veggie: peas

book: ballet books

game: tag

toy: lalaloopsy's

food: ice cream

place: disneyland

candy: gum, actually chocolate

best friend: natalie

what makes you happy? kissing mommy

what do you love about your family? because i have a dog, brother, a mommy, a daddy and chickens and soon a bunny.

what is the smartest thing you know how to do? count by 10's

what do you want to be when you grow up? a ballet teacher

what will you get to do once you turn 7? i don't know

if you could be in charge for a day, what would you do? i would tell people to make me 300 bowls of mac-n-cheese.

what are some of your wishes for this year? to stop getting pinched by garrett

words from your mama:

you are such a beautiful girl. i love you more than words could ever say. i think you are smart, funny, sweet, lovable and an absolute joy to be around. i am impressed by the things you have learned this year. being a homeschool mama, i sometimes doubt myself and what we do for school, but you always amaze me by what you know and what you are interested in. i love that you learned how to read this year, even though it was frustrating for us at times. i love how you added random numbers in your head as we roamed around ikea. i love that you learned how to ride your bike and tie your shoelaces, with double knots to boot. i love that when i asked you at the beginning of the school year what you wanted to learn, you said how to blow a bubble with chewing gum. and i love that you learned that this year. i love watching you dance and perform in your first nutcracker and your first hip hop class. i love all of your moves. i love how you adore and care for you little brother even though there are times when he is not so adorable. i love your creativity. i love your imagination. i love your spirit. you are such a blessing to us and i am so very thankful you are my girl avery. love, mama

summer fun + bubbles

it was on our summer list. it was not the first and definitely not the last time we do it. it was bubble time. i love bubbles. i always have loved bubbles. they're just a fun summertime activity. almost like running through the sprinklers, just a little bit stickier. today we did bubbles and the kids and i had so much fun. i bought some cheapo wands at target in the $ section, had some leftover bubble solution i got on clearance last summer from target (but, it's super easy to make your own - see below) and we made our own little bubbleland right in our front yard. the kiddo's were thouroughly enjoying themselves and i was enjoying snapping pics of them. take a look...

big

or small

we played

with them all.

we made bubble foam

we danced

all in front of our home.

we chased them

we caught them

we even stopped to smell them.

to make your own bubble solution all you got to do is this:

mix 1 cup water, with 4 tbls. liquid dish washing soap (the blue Dawn works the best, but any will do). and that's it. some recipes say to add 2 tbls. light karo syrup or glycerin, but i never do. they work just fine with the soap and water. if you want a firmer bubble, you might want to add the syrup. oh and you might need to tweek the recipe to your desired liking. add more soap if your bubbles seem to watery or vice versa.

have fun! happy summer!

our summer schedule + cool summer project

it's that time again. time to relax, rest and recuperate. that's right it's summertime. count me in for all of the above, but i also have some things planned for this summer too.

here's the list...

eat ice cream go to the zoo swimming ride bikes

play in the sprinklers BBQ make ice cream

go to the beach ride the train READ watch fireworks camp in the park play with friends SPLASH PAD dance visit the museum walk through a garden find a shady tree go to the library ride the great balloon camp in the backyard turtle rock go to the aquarium walk at the beach eat fresh fruit THE FARMERS MARKET sew paint blow bubbles picnic feed the ducks scooter meet new friends listen to music movie nights ice cream truck go to the zoo dinner with friends craft day go the the fair plant flowers ice cream party tuesday beach day make lemonade make an outdoor chalkboard hike tide pools night walks visit the nature center write stories look for bugs learn FRENCH bonfires

i think that should keep us busy for awhile, what ya think?

one of things on our summer list is to make an outdoor chalkboard. i got the idea from maria over at a lil bit of ireland, lil bit of costa rica. this is what hers looks like...

i think it's super cute and a great idea. i can't wait to have the mister make us one.

hope you have a FUN-filled summer.

another day in nature + emergency kit

have i told you that i love our home school nature group? i think i have and i really do. we do the funnest, coolest adventures together. on my own i am not much of an explorer, but this group brings it out of me.

this weeks nature day was wild blackberry or boysenberry picking. (to find out the difference between the two you can go here) i actually think both berries were present. all i know is that my kiddo's thought they were delicious.

they were eager to join their friends over on the hill

and pick their own berries.

my girl brought a basket for her pickings

the little fella picked some too

however, he didn't need a basket because he just ate them right off the bush

stained lips and fingers to prove it

as usual the kiddo's played, explored, imagined and pretended together

they gathered under a shady tree and some of them even attempted to climb it

it was another fun day in nature and we will be back because look at all those soon to be ripened berries.

on a side note: unfortunately, where there are berries there are bees. a couple of our kiddo's got too close to a beehive (we didn't know it was there until after) and they were attacked by a swarm of angry bees. one of them got stung 14+ times. thankfully, between our group we were able to round up some things to help this poor kiddo out. one mama had a first aid kit in her car that had calamine lotion, i had tylenol in my bag and there was lots help trying to keep the little one calm and her mama too. but, it got me thinking of how important it is for us mama's to be prepared. if you don't already have an emergency kit in your car you should really get one. you never know when accidents will happen and hopefully they won't. but, i can guarantee if you ever do have to use it, you will not regret having it. i currently do not have an emergency kit in my car. it is on my list of things to do by the end of this week. (my car is in the shop until thursday, so i can't get it done any sooner) this is what i plan on putting in it:

car emergency kit

• basic first aid kit
• children's tylenol
• children's benadryl
• a few medicine droppers
• calamine lotion
• instant cold pack
• bottles of water
• some packaged snacks (granola bars, crackers, fruit snacks)
• $20-$40

that's all i got for now. what do you have in your emergency kit? let me know if i forgot anything. you know how i love to be prepared.

all in all, after a trip to the urgent care, a dose of benadryl, some stickers and a lollipop from the doc this little one ended up being ok. she was such a trooper, as well as her mama and big sis.

now go make an emergency kit. do it. you want regret it!