At the Transportation Museum...

Riding the street car, wearing some pearls. Life is good.

Latest Applique Project

My playgroup has a baby shower a few times a year for the current expecting moms in the group. This go around, there were 4 of us and I thought it might be fun to give a new applique project a try as a little gift for the other mommas.

I like how they turned out and they were again super easy! There are two girls on the way and one boy (hence the two swimming suits and the only super manly frog tie).

This was my first attempt at this project and think it will be fun to play around with all of the possibilities!

A Clean Shave

Amelia's pre-school using the "Handwriting without Tears" program to teach children, well, handwriting. I don't know much about the program, but I do know that it means the kids get to practice writing letters in fun mediums like shaving cream and salt.

In her last newsletter, it was suggested that parents give shaving cream a try at home with their kids too. So we did and it was fun!

When we got sick of drawing shapes and letters, we reached for the food coloring. To start, I put a little of yellow on one side and a little blue on the other. Amelia is convinced magic is what turned the shaving cream green!

This was a fun activity and actually not TOO messy. The best part though was that we both smelled super clean by the time we were done!

Sleepy Susie

Well, well well....look who finally decided to take a nap. I guess that opening her blinds, changing her dress, putting on tights, and finding the right shoes (which still have the tags on them and the elastic band between them) to match her ensemble made her tired enough to fall asleep--right in the middle of her floor!

Toddlers & Tiaras

Great Outdoors

Every day after picking Amelia up from school, we pass by a local park. Since I pick her up at lunch time, we are both starving by the time we got home. I thought that maybe one day I would pack a picnic and we could eat it at the park on the way home.

Last Thursday was that day! I only told Amelia that I would have a surprise for her when I picked her up. She was so excited when she saw GG in the passenger seat! Not excited enough to think SHE was the surprise though! She immediately got in the car and said, "What's my surprise, mommy?". Before I could answer, she spotted the blanket and the picnic basket and asked, "Are we going on a picnic?".

We had asked a family friend, Linda, to join us. She was babysitting her 3 month old grandson, Donovan, so he joined us too! When we got to the park, Amelia picked a spot and we set up shop.

Amelia loved getting to visit with Baby Donovan (actually, everyone did!). Amelia took it upon herself to snap some pictures while we were finishing up lunch.

Amelia was pretty antsy upon finishing her grub. Luckily I packed a huge bag of bread crumbs so that we could feed the turtles and fish at the pond. (There are no longer ducks there, rumor has it that the turtles were biting their feet and they found a new pond to call home).

I was so proud of Amelia when another little girl walked up. She said, "Hi! What's your name? I'm Amelia. Do you want to throw some bread too?". Sharing has been a very difficult concept for her lately and I was glad to see her approach the little girl in such a socially acceptable way!

The turtles and fish were glad she shared too!

After a few rounds on the 3 play areas, we decided to head out. I had one more surprise up my sleeve. We stopped by Paul's on the way home for some ice cream. Amelia's only requirement was she wanted her ice cream to be PINK!

I promised Amelia that we would do a special surprise like this again. And, so everyday since the picnic, when I have picked her up from school, she immediately asks if we are going on a picnic or if I had a surprise for her!

Quick Draw

Amelia's portrait of her father....

I love that she even captured his eyebrows. Under that red puppy he's carrying, you may even be able to see the arms and legs she drew. Below the puppy there is some orange, those are "daddy's boo-boos".

Amelia even gave her best attempt to write the word "DAD". She is a pro at writing the letter "H", but just can't get them to connect at the top to make an "A". As you can see, we are 50/50 on the letter "D".

Cuivre River State Park

Some moms from my playgroup have taken the opportunity to head to Cuivre River State Park in Troy a couple of times this summer. Their final visit was scheduled for last week and Amelia and I decided to tag along. I am so glad we did!

I hadn't been to this particular watering hole since Jason and I were dating. It hasn't changed much and I could not have asked for a better day with our friends! The weather was great, the beach wasn't too crowded, and Amelia had a fantastic time!

She would be hard pressed to pick what she liked better--playing in the sand or playing in the water. In fact, three days and two baths later, I am still trying to get all of the sand from her scalp!

She even found some shells! She looks less than thrilled here about them, but rest assured it was pretty exciting for her. In fact, they are still nestled in her car seat and travel with us wherever we go.

If I wouldn't have been so comfy resting under a huge umbrella in my beach chair, cold beverage in hand, I may have gotten some more pictures from the day. But alas, I was pretty preoccupied with catching up with friends and snacking in the shade. Just trust me when I say, a wonderful day was had by all!

Something Old

The nesting has begun at our house and we've been busy cleaning out the office (soon to be referred to as "the baby's room"). Since this room as pretty much been a dumping ground for an assortment of items over the last 2 years, this is quite a job!

Upon other treasures, Amelia came across my wedding veil, so of course we both had to take turns trying it on. Yes, I have a death grip on Amelia's arm as she is standing on the bathroom counter to get the best view of herself. And, yes, I am wearing a pair of Jason's shorts, since only one pair of my own still fit and those happened to be dirty.

In Amelia's veil picture, you may also notice that she is sporting a Christmas dress as well. This is a size 18 month dress that she came across that STILL FITS HER BODY! She is so long and lean! Of course, it just barely covered her belly button, but I was shocked that she could actually put it on, so to speak!

Lawn Girl

Jason snapped some pictures of Amelia helping out in the yard the other night. Perhaps these are the best pictures of the new do---these are the first ones on the blog that are post professional haircut.

She is the one and only reason that our flowers are still alive this late in the summer.

Amelia's patented "I don't get it" face and body language.