the ANTS go Marching One by One!

This little snack was a big hit with my girls and I thought I'd share it with you!  <3

• celery stick, washed & trimmed
• peanut butter
• ants...we used the brown sprinkles but feel free to use whatever you have in your pantry or fridge.  (nuts, raisins,  grapes, cheese bits...etc)

Homeschooling Opportunity...make it FUN!
Let your little ones put the "ants" on the log (fine motor skills)...count them, ask them what color they are...get them talking!  Ava suggested that we try jelly on it next time...I think that is a great idea!
Take a picture of your snack and make a sketch of it for your journal.  Write the words "celery", "ants on a log" in your journal.

What else can you think of to put on these?  Do you have an easy, fun & nutritious snacks to share with me...I can use all the help I can get! 

...she likes it!

I Heart Hearts!

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share some of the hearts I've come across, several I've made, some my girls have made and a bunch from today's events.  The past year I've found myself going back to this same theme...hearts!  

Hearts can be a simple expression of love, affection and emotion.  

Love is all around us!

Happy hearts of encouragement...

Love one another!

Some pictures from today...

I wish I could say I made these, but I didn't!  Don't they look amazing?!

Here are our Valentine's Day cards...with a books of the bible book marker.

My two little Valentine's!  I love you my girls...you are my joy!  =)

 

Love is patient,

Love is kind.

It does not envy,

It does not boast, 

It is not proud.

It is not rude,

It is not self-seeking,

It is not easily angered,

It keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil,

But rejoices with the truth.

It always protects,

Always trusts,

Always hopes,

Always perseveres.

Love never fails.

 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Steelers or Packers???

Since my Bears are no longer in contention...I don't have much invested into the big Superbowl game today. I do have a friend who is a HUGE Steelers fan & I picked up this Steelers fabric with him in mind. I mixed it with some solid Kona fabric & one of my skull prints from my stash...it's coming together pretty nicely! 

I had to get over my feeling of disloyalty while sewing this...at least they're not in the same division!

Here is my little Bears fan, giving her fiercest growl!  There is a lot of cheering & yelling when the game is on...usually done by me, then followed by my two mini-me's!  Gotta get them started early ya know!

Whoever your team is, bust out your jersey, get your game face on & get ready for some football! =)
Have fun & be safe!

The Little Things

finding a puddle to stomp in...

running to the park...

stopping to pick a dandelion...

making a wish...

balancing on a little wall...

taking time to play...

finding little treasures in nature...

discovering secret places...

enjoying a little snack...

swinging...

pretending...

climbing...

taking a leap of faith...

admiring the beauty around us...

taking a moment to rest...

making up games...

and learning everywhere we go.

Simple pleasures in the little things in life!
May you be blessed by the little things that pop up in your day.  =)
Have a great weekend!

Back to School, Back to Nature

Well, it's been back to school in our household...I am enjoying my "Quilting Arts" class through the ABC Adult School in Cerritos.  My teacher, Rosa, is so fun to be around & is so patient with us.  She helped me make a few patterns...something new I've never done before.  You know, those patterns can be so intimidating & I've set them aside so many times after hours of staring blankly at them!  Now I can make my own & decipher theirs (with the help of my super teacher).  Yaaay for school.  =)

Kyra has adjusted GREAT at her pre-school and has been improving her phonics & writing skills everyday.  They recently had their "100th day of school" and celebrated with a party...complete with 100 m&m's for each student to line up & count.  I try to incorporate teaching in everyday activities...we count everything and anything, I ask them questions about what they see & try to get them thinking about the world around them.  They are always very curious!  =)

Kyra's teacher is awesome too!  She writes great little notes on her homework, with plenty of encouragement & what I call "happy hearts."  How sweet is that!

I have tried to instill a love of reading in my girls.  Thankfully, they LOVE books and often get together to "read."  Kyra likes to make up her own stories (which are so fun to listen to) and pretends to be reading these big books!  I love my little bookworms.  =)

 

We (as in Southern Californian's) have actually had some crazy rain the past month!  I know, we are winter WIMPS and have no real concept of how cold the rest of the world really gets, but when it hits 60 degrees around here...we just don't know WHAT to do!  lol.  Here is a shot of these newly planted flowers in the courtyard...funny, but these PURPLE flower plants had a couple PINK flowers growing from them!!  cool.

More pics I took...loving all the nature shots.

and the texture of this leaf was so cool!  I wish it wasn't so blurry...next time I'll get it good.

inside a flower...

peeking in at another bug...

and MORE bugs...I'm lovin' my macro lens people!!!  If you don't have one, it's definitely worth getting if you like to take pictures...it's amazing all the things you see up CLOSE!!

and this bird on a wire...he was just chillin' so I had to get a shot of him.

Some fun new things I've done with my packaging...I made these cool Victoriously UPcycled hang tags...hand crafted with LOVE!!

 One of my latest creations...