Just a Blog Post

August 22, 2016August 24, 2016Leave a comment

Hey everyone! I really don’t have much of a blog post today, but I thought I would share a little bit from the bridal shower, a little bit more from Hawaii, and a deal from Redbubble.

Last week Lauren told you about Redbubble, an online shop where you can find all sorts of items from your favorite tv shows or gamers. Great gift ideas too! Just click on the Redbubble logo below to be taken to the site.

The bridal shower for Lauren’s friend was so nice. We managed to fit everyone in my little house and had a good time together. We played a few games, ate delicious food (prepared by someone else!) and just enjoyed time spent together. I’m so glad we could do this for the bride and her family.

woodland bridal shower bride and maid of honor

I haven’t shared pictures from Hawaii for awhile now, and since summer is almost over, I thought I would get a few more pictures on here and make everyone wish they were at the beach! We spent a couple of hours out on a catamaran and got very wet and windblown, but also were able to see a couple of whales spouting! It was so nice to be out on the ocean and have time to relax.

See the spouts?!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

A Day at the Lake

July 18, 2016July 17, 201610 Comments

Hi everyone! My post is a little different this time. No DIY! Just a few pictures from our day at a nearby lake! I finally got to go somewhere and just relax!

I took this picture on the way to the lake. Ezzy looks so excited, but Zoe, not so much!! This just makes me laugh every time. We haven’t taken Zoe anywhere yet, so this was her first major trip and she did so good!

Here are the nice brown foothills surrounding the lake. We are going through drought here in Ca., so while the lake is pretty full, the hills are very dry. This is just in the foothills, not too far up.

Lake Kaweah is actually a reservoir and is used to control flood waters when there is a lot of snow and is also used for irrigation for the surrounding farmland. It is usually full during May and June when the snow melts, but since we did have a little extra rain this year, it is still pretty full even in July.

We arrived around 11:00 and it was pretty quiet. Just a few other people and some boats and jet skis out on the water. By 2:00, it was pretty busy and we called it a day. Having all the dogs there and lots of people can get a little stressful. But the dogs really did quite well.

It was so nice to get out for awhile, even if it was just a few hours. We played a little frisbee in the water and I got to spend my time reading a book I have trying to get to all summer! We are hoping to get to another lake a little higher up in a couple of weeks and then hopefully to the beach before school starts. We all need a few of these breaks!

I will see you again on Wednesday! Hope you have a great week!

Rent a Toy with Pley, an Online Toy Library

July 11, 2016July 10, 20164 Comments

Hey everyone! I’m off today helping Lauren with the final moving stuff. Hopefully she will have most of it done, since she needs to be out by noon. She is moving into a really cute apartment complex. There are lots of large and shady trees, a couple of pools, volleyball courts and rec room. I hope all goes well with her roommates.

About a month ago, we received an email from a company called Pley, an online toy rental service out of Silicon Valley. With Pley, your kids get to play with the coolest toys and you can save money, reduce clutter and help the environment. For a monthly fee, members receive the toys they picked delivered directly to their door. Once they’ve finished playing with their toy, they can simply swap it out for a different toy. No more wasting money on toys that are left gathering dust on your shelves. Pley asked if I would like to try out a toy and possibly write a review about the toy and the service. (I did get to try out the toy at no charge and then sent the toy back). Well, of course, I was happy to do so. Now, I don’t have any small children at home, but I have my two great-nieces. Perfect!

I went online to the Pley website and picked out which toy I wanted to try out. They have so much to choose from! You can choose an age group, boy or girl, and then pick toys ranging from Star Wars, Marvel, Fisher Price, Disney Jr., Lego, American Girl, Barbie, Leap Frog, Hot Wheels, and K’nex. After I picked the toy I wanted, I placed the order and waited for my toy to arrive. It came after just a few days.

My 3 year old niece happened to be visiting at my Mom’s house, so I went over for a visit and to bring the toy. I had picked out a Preschool Store Set which included people, animals, a store set-up, food and many other pieces. My niece and I played with it for quite awhile, setting up the store and helping the people to shop.

She especially liked loading thing into the little car. She’s a little shopper already!

I really like the idea of playing with a toy for awhile and then trading it in for something else. We know how kids get tired of the same thing and this way you don’t have to go out and spend a lot of money on toys, plus find a place to store them. If my kids were still small, it would definitely be something I would consider! I think this is a great service for all parents!

Would this be something you would try out? I would love to hear other opinions about this kind of service! Let me know in the comments!

ps. I would like to wish a Happy Birthday to my daughter Haley!!!

How To Make a Super Simple Superhero Cape

June 20, 2016June 17, 20164 Comments

I have a super easy project for you today! As most of you know, I really don’t like to sew. I made this project without having to sew, but you could if you wanted to make it fancier! I used knit fabric so I wouldn’t have to worry about sewing seams or having the fabric fray. My kind of project! Here are a few of the fabrics I picked.

The size of the cape is going to depend on the size of your child. I made these for my preschoolers and for my 2 great-nieces. I started with a 25″ by 30″, but that looked too big for the kids. I cut them down to a 21″ long by 15″ neck for my 3 year old niece and 15″ long by 12″ neck for the 1 1/2 year old. The ones for 4-5 year old preschoolers were a little longer.

After cutting the rectangle, I cut in from the sides, about half way up, to the neckline. I cut in just enough so it would be a 15″ or 12″ neckline. You could also make a wide seam at the top and run a ribbon through it, but I didn’t want to have to tie it on the kids each time someone else wanted to use the cape. So I used velcro instead.

I attached a piece of velcro to the top, one on each side of the fabric so it would lay flat.

I also added emblems to the back. Every superhero needs an emblem! This one is the letters for the preschool where I work.

Here it is all done. You can see how it goes narrower at the top to fit around the neck.

I added a star to this one.

Here are the ones I made for my great nieces-Super ‘E’ and Super ‘L.’ L had just woken up from a nap, so she didn’t really feel like being a superhero, but E ran ‘really fast’ and ‘flew’ all over the house. It’s so fun to see kids use their imagination when playing! Who need tv when you have a 3 year old playing superhero! By the way, she was just pretending to sleep. No rest for this one!!

This is a great ‘super’ easy project to make for your kids this summer. Hopefully it will provide hours of enjoyment for both of you!

The Great State Of Hawaii-Part 3

May 16, 2016May 15, 201614 Comments

Happy Monday everyone! Wait! Is there such a thing?! Why do Mondays always seem to be a hard day? It’s so difficult to get back into the routine of school again, especially this close to the end. My preschoolers are definitely feeling it too! At least we can go outside and let them run off some energy. We have 3 weeks left and then we get a much needed break. Yay!!

Since I was thinking about vacation, I decided to show a few (!) more of my Hawaii pictures. I realized I hadn’t done any for awhile. I’m in the midst of some projects, but nothing is complete yet, so this will help fill the gap. Plus it’s nice to dream again!! Here is Part 1 and Part 2 if you missed them.

One of our free mornings, we decided to check out the aquarium. I decided I saw more of a variety of fish here than I did when we snorkeled, and this was much easier! I don’t remember all the names of the fish, but it’s so relaxing just to look at them and imagine the water and waves.

We probably all know these fish from Finding Nemo-Clown Fish! Did you know that Finding Dory is coming out next month? Can’t wait!

This little blue guy looked so pretty in front of the coral.

Yes, those are bright orange teeth on this fellow! I don’t think I would want to meet him underwater!

A beautiful purple sea urchin.

Jellyfish are just so cool to watch as they float in the water. Obviously, this is an Upside Down Jellyfish.

I love starfish and use them all over my house to decorate. I loved how these were all in a row.

More jellyfish!

One more! Isn’t this amazing!?

Well, hello grumpy!

I love to watch the seahorses too. The way they use their tail to hang onto the plants is so cool!

Love these guys!

They are all so pretty!

Well, I’m not so sure about these two!

This guy just stayed in one spot, upright, in the water. He would spin in slow circles around and around.

Naptime!

After the aquarium we met up with Haley and a couple of her friends for lunch at the famous Duke’s restaurant. This was named for the Duke Kahanamoku, who is famous for making the sport of surfing so popular. We had some really good food and it was fun to meet up with the kids and find out about what they had been doing too.