last days of summer

of course the week i go back to school, is the week the temp finally reaches the 90's.  that did not stop us from enjoying the beach though.

take a look at our little carnival tent we brought along!
it kept our water and lunch cool too!

...and yes,

herc digs the girls!

summer backyard fun day

here we are in the thick of summer,
having some good old fashion, messy, wet summer time fun!

the day began as we transformed ourselves into super hero ninjas
those squirters from the dollar tree are awesome

 we did a little painting...

 played with a lot of water

and finished it off with an angry birds lunch

i love summer

picnic

herc and i have been loving our summer off, and any opportunity we get for a picnic we take it.

this picnic was across from the glenview train station, so we did some train spotting!

tips for picnicking with toddler: no dips no drips and no utensils!

i like to keep it simple, a ham and cheese sandwich, some kind of a crunchy snack,
some fruit like a grapes, a sucker or gummy bears, a water bottle or juice box.

grab a blanket throw it in a basket or bag whatever and go!

and i just picked up some fun stuff at the container store to make our next picnic a little cuter! Reusable sandwich bags that come in all these adorable animal designs!

The Container Store

 

happy fourth

enjoy your friends and family and most of all freedom

karaspartyideas

breathe

via

...just breathe, it will be ok!!

fast and fun

i found these fast food card board containers in the dollar section at Target.

i am a sucker for cuteness, i couldn't pass them up.

i used them to wrap up some little gifts for my nieces.

thought they would be fun for goody bags at a birthday too!

have a super happy week!

shaving cream + food coloring = bathtub paint

it has been raining...a LOT!

here is an easy indoor summer fun activity!

messy and clean and colorful all at once!

just fill a muffin tin with plain shaving cream,

Barbasol works great and is about 2 bucks a can.

add a few drops of food coloring, stir it up and there you go!

you can use your fingers or throw in a paint brush.

come on in

...and hang up your jacket

organizing ideas for the front entry.
http://birchandbird.com/


A Cup of Jo

the style files

happy mother's day

yesterday herc ran up to me and said, "SURPRISE!"

this is my first handmade mother's day gift!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the mamas

words of inspiration for spring cleaning

via Explore by Lisa Congdon

earth day + what to do with old cruddy clothes

happy earth day friends!  i am so excited to share this little bit of info, i just acquired earlier today.
if you're anything like me you sometimes get a bit overwhelmed when it comes to  clutter and spring cleaning.  forever i have had a pile of clothes that, I have wanted to gets rid of. some are donateable(? real word i think not), and then I have a bunch of mismatched, holey, stained weird stuff that really has no where to go.  i hate throwing stuff like that in the garbage, it really makes my stomach hurt thinking about land fills.  then I saw this
                                                                 Don't let fashion go to waste!

go to their website to see where they are excepting donations.  clothes that are in good enough condition will be resold, (which I'm fine with since they do need to cover their costs.) this is the GOOD part!  all that crazy holey, stained stuff will be recycled and reused being turned into raw materials and made into new products....and i feel better!

hug a tree, plant a tree, happy earth day!!

rain, rain, go away!

spring here in chicago is starting to act like a toddler! i'm going to ignore its tantrums.  at least this guy is enjoying it!

neat things to stuff your Easter basket with

spring is here and what better time to explore nature with your kids.  

here are a few kits to watch little things grow big!

i'm not sure who will be more excited about this herc or me? how neat would it be to see a bird build a nest and maybe even start a family!

Nest View

how fun would it be to watch a tadpole transform into a frog?

Young Explorers

                                    or see a caterpillar become a butterfly

Butterfly Garden

fresh eggs, flowers and spring

this past week i saw a note posted in the teacher's work room for fresh eggs.  a parent at our school sells fresh eggs from her farm.  i called the number ordered a few dozen and by the end of school i had these beautiful eggs!

i had to run some errands that day and when i saw this basket at Sur la table, i could not pass it up

so even if it was 17 degrees on the first day of spring, i tried to look on the bright side...and make some sunny side up eggs. or as herc says dippie eggs;)

and to finish my week off, john brought me home a beautiful wild flower bouquet!

so come on spring, we're all waiting for you!

a little funny

via my friend emily 

humortrain.com

my big boy

                                                 i love this kid!

indoor gardens for kids

via fruitflypie on etsy

today is a snow day...we are all home, warm and snuggly.  i am starting to get a little stir crazy, and i miss the warm California sunshine.  i miss the hikes and  beautiful succulent gardens.  one of my favorite places in L.A. to visit was the California Cactus Center in Pasadena.  john would take me there for my birthdays to pick out a pot and design my own arrangement.

California Cactus Center

i thought this was a fun idea for herc's room,  i actually bought a stegasaurus from Target to do this a while back.

via Craftster

i have been reading herc Jack and the Bean Stalk,  he loves it!  this is a cute little project to get started in the dining room window, where the sun comes through nice and bright all day.  i think he will get a kick out of seeing the beans sprout.

Martha Stewart

ready to trade our mittens for some gardening gloves!

 

apple upside down cake...delicious

i found the recipe for this on Pinterest...of course.  yes, I am mildly obsessed with Pinterest, but i have made a deal with myself, as long as I do something creative, bake, do some home remedy, it is not a waste of time!

here is my list of things i have seen on Pinterest and actually tried:

faux calligraphy(more than once!)

baking soda for boiling eggs(easy off peel, it works!)

scarf  folding tutorial

this cake...

tons of art projects with Herc

and i cant remember what else, but i have.

i followed THIS recipe from King Arthur Flour, and changed a few things, cause i didn't have all the ingredients.

via

the recipe called for corn syrup, i used maple syrup.  asked for ground ginger i substituted allspice, and my husband was supposed to bring home apple cider and claims someone took it from his cart so i used water.  it was pretty easy and turned out great! i made it twice by request:)  

wintery fun

 chubby little snow man

chubby little snow man

had a carrot for a nose

along came a bunny

and what do you suppose?

that hungry little bunny 

looking for his lunch

ate that snow man's carrot nose

nibble, nibble

CRUNCH

I learned this poem at school and shared it with Herc. He can not get enough of it!

So today we made our own chubby little snowman and we painted him blue!

(to make spray paint for coloring snow, just add some food coloring to a water bottle with a spray nozzle!) 

keep on truckin

things are falling into place...slowly.
 i stumbled upon this quote on a blog the other day.
she had some nice things to say.
worth the visit. WC

via Whitney English

it's friiiiiiiiiiday!

finally the weekend, no school today! hope you had a sweet, hearts + kisses day.  We BBQ'd in 20 degree weather, and loved it!

via

(this isn't actually our backyard), but you get the point!