Jun 27, 2011

blanket or bag

this morning the boys are snuggled up watching a movie- another day with no sunshine- they both have colds and are not feeling well- so- i am posting this blog from last monday-when they were feeling well and excited about their trip to the library with their new bags- happy monday- hope you are feeling well today-

i have had this airplane fabric around for 5+ years- at the time i got it- i was hoping to make a quilt for a friend who was having a baby with an airplane themed nursery- well-never got around to it- i am glad- it is perfect for our sweet boy nolan to have something made out of it- then - lucas had his fabulous beatles themed 5th birthday party this year- i was on the hunt for all things beatles for his party- i came across this great beatles fabric and i used it for a table cloth- what to do with it now?- make something for lucas of course!

here they are- so easy to put together-

if you want directions on how to make a book bag like this- please ask- i am going to skip the blog details here today- i wanted to mostly show off how cute the boys are at the library 
cheese!

enough photos mom- lets go
i love how nolans is 1/2 his size- made me giggle watching him walk with it

the search is on- fill up those bags-

i think the boys enjoyed having bags to stash in that they didnt have to share- made it much easier to leave the library with the massive amount of books we bring home-
yeah! for new book bags- pat on the shoulder for me- the mom :)

Jun 22, 2011

story time trolley with local author

last night- lucas and i had our 2nd annual story time trolley date in excelsior- nancy carlson a local author has written 61 childrens books to date- doing both writing and illustrations her books are wonderful not only for the little ones but the adults too- thanks to my mom- i grew up reading carlsons wonderful books like- harriet and the roller coaster- harriet and walt- harriet and the garden- and harriet and the halloween candy- it was so exciting for me to bring my 1982 1st edition harriet and the roller coaster for carlson to sign last night :) -

while carlson being my favorite childrens author- i of course turned my child on to her as well- what child wouldnt love the illustrations of a dog, rabbit, guinea pig and more- her stories are all positive for children to learn from- her characters have fears- some have disabilities- among other things- kids are influenced and learn from the challenges they are reading about- i remember feeling the fear harriet had getting on that roller coaster in her book- and at the end- i learned if you do not try something you are afraid of you might miss out on a lot of fun-

the weather held out for our wonderful date last night- after being rained out last week- we took a nice ride down the track and back stopping in the middle of our route for carlson to read 3 books-after the 2nd book was read-  lucas raised his hand and in his sweet little voice "mrs.carlson- do you have any arnie books to read?" arnie being lucas favorite character of carlsons- she did not have one with her- so- lucas borrowed her his- he was more than thrilled- to top it off- she showed the riders on the trolley how she makes her characters- lucky passengers last night- she shared her art work with the families- can you guess what character we came home with? yep- arnie!-

most of carlsons books are taken from her own experiences and that makes it more fun to read- to read more about nancy carlson please visit www.nancycarlson.com to order any of her books please use your LOCAL bookstore to do so- not only is she a great author- she really is a down to earth person to sit and talk with- she visits a ton of schools over the school year- maybe your child will be lucky to meet carlson- she has many awards and recognitions- i promise you will become hooked to her heart felt stories and messages- i hope you can start a tradition in your family with this lovely local author-

Jun 19, 2011

daddy

i love you my sweet husband- i really-really love you- i couldnt imagine doing this parental role with any other partner- what a journey- you are the best daddy- we love you-
lucas paged through many coloring sheets to pick the perfect one for daddy- he also wanted to make daddy a ribbon he could wear (bottom right) and a bouquet of ties for the breakfast table- our little crafter- daddy was gently awoke by two sweet little voices- one singing happy fathers day to you- after many hugs-kisses and snuggles- we all enjoyed daddys favorite breakfast- french toast-he loved his homemade treasures- smiles & full bellies = love

Jun 14, 2011

nana loves me



the boys and i have been taking a morning stroll lately- lucas on his bike- nolan in his car- today on our way home lucas checked the mail- "a package" he yells " for me- it says lucas" he was so excited- special delivery just for him-
so excited to open it- he couldnt wait- down he went on the driveway and opened it up- from nanas craft shop- ooohhh- this will be fun-
nana made a special pin wheel and put together a package with all the fixings for lucas to make and one to share with noley-

how cute is this- love-

cant wait to get his hands crafting-
here he goes-

tada! pin wheels!!!

calling nana to tell her how much fun he had- both getting the package and making a craft-
thanks for taking the time to make something so special and fun nana-

while going to bed that night- lucas was telling me how he wanted to send a special letter in the mail to someone?? will see who gets it- i know- but i am not going to spoil it- i love how getting this special package wanted to make lucas turn around and do the same for someone else-

kids love to check the mail- they love even more to get a letter- oh heck- dont we all?! its nice to receive something in the mail other than bills- make someones day- send a letter

Jun 8, 2011

cookies or dough?


i absolutely love that lucas always shows interest in wanting to bake- if there is a lesson he can learn from me and take away and use in his adult life- i would be a proud momma if he could bake and cook- not only for himself but for his loved ones too- so when the question arrives-mom can we make cookies pleeeese? i know its another opportunity for him to learn-

this time noley oley wanted in on the action- it was a bit of a messy baking session this afternoon- but well worth it- they had a blast- i had a blast- i love watching lucas tell nolan how to bake the cookies!! one egg was broken- a lot of sugar and flour hit the floor and their sweet faces!

im not sure if its the cookies or the dough that lucas gets more excited about- i remember sneaking into the fridge as a little girl and sticking my finger into the goodness of the same chocolate chip dough as we made today- so i understand his impatience to have that batter stick at the end- another sweet memory of my boys enjoying the simplicity of a afternoon indoors

Jun 5, 2011

smells and memories

yesterday morning i got to spend time with my sweet friend jody and our adorable children- we decided to meet at orono schools and let the kids play on the playground- i have not been up to the grounds of my old school in years- i was excited to show lucas where i went to school-he understands the meaning of elementary school and likes to hear stories about how mommy- jojo and krissy met there-  i cant believe we will be sending our kids off to kindergarten in just 4 short months-

as we were walking over to the elementary school- visions of tetherball-the metal dome and wooden playground filled my mind- i was excited- but as we walked around the corner i saw all that I had remembered was gone- for sure outdated and probably dangerous these days- instead filled with colorful new playground equipment- colors that attract the eyes of kids in this generation- the only old thing standing were the swings- jody and i stood there to reminisce- i couldnt believe that our children were playing together in the very same spot we had grown up together- now they were laughing- climbing and making new memories for themselves-

curious i peaked in some windows and looked at the old structure of the school standing in front of me and let my mind wonder back to the old school days- right then it hit me- an overwhelming smell that brought me into the school and back again to being little- jody also smelled it- i didnt even have to say a word she new what I was smelling- coming from an old vent was the old library book smell- the same smell was how I remember school-

as pictures do- smells do the same amazing thing- brings our minds back to a place we may have forgot and then we get to remember- remember the innocents of childhood- remember where i met my two life long friends- i had no idea when we planned our play date that i would walk away with such emotions yesterday- what an amazing morning