school performance

i've been meaning to post this for a while.........since the middle of june to be exact! this is of brandon's pre-school end of the year performance. (see him in the above picture second from the left)

in the weeks leading to the performance, i'd hear brandon practicing here & there singing his songs. so cute!

i talked to some of the moms that day & they told me their kid actually told them they are not going to sing. they were refusing to sing. and you know what, i checked out those 2 and throughout the whole performance, they didn't. not one song!! they just stood there! kinda funny but not if those kids belonged to you. i would have been sad if brandon didn't sing.



the picture below is where brandon received his "diploma". only a handful of kids are moving to kindergaten. the other ones are too young to enter kinder.
all smiles!

this was at the party afterwards. obviously, he didn't want to sit with me to take a picture---he wanted to mingle with all his friends and probably eat that fat cookie in his hands. eddie couldn't make it to this. he was in AZ for the day. we knew there was going to be this end of the year school performance but we didn't think it was on the 2nd to the last day of school (we just automactically thought it was on the last day so he planned his AZ trip weeks before).

a fun video. brandon was VERY animated! can you spot him? enjoy! (i had to pan over to the teachers too. they were so enthusiastic)

hot

trying to cool off by thinking about christmas cards. it's been unbelievably HOT here!! close to triple digits. our bill was $140 last month due to our use of the AC and the ceiling fan on all day & night (and that's only when we are in the house).

bambi

i cut up a vintage 1979 bambi grows up book. it was hard to do but i love how books were illustrated back then. the colors are still so bright & vibrant!
side note.........when i was little, maybe 5 or 6 years old, i remember getting busted big time from my dad for ordering some disney books from a book club. i had just learned that cards that were in magazines have postage free cards to send in for stuff. the one i chose was a disney book club. i was found out when the 1st book came in the mail WITH a bill. my parents were pretty mad!! long story short, this is when i 1st fell in love with these type of illustrations. (BTW, this offer came with free book ends)

scchool starting soon!

the boys enjoying a snack out in the backyard on a recent summer day! cannot believe brandon starts kindergarten on september 1st!! end of summer coming near!
i have a question for all you moms out there----brandon is expected to wear a belt with his school "uniform" if his shorts or pants have belt loops. how do they really expect a 4 yr old belt a belt?? i want to find him an EASY belt to do with no holes so he won't struggle with poking it in the right hole. are there velco ones out there? we did get him one yesterday--- it's a strap belt that he opens up the buckle, slides it in, tighten it & closes it. BUT it has a transformer symbol (deceptacon) on it & i am not sure if that is acceptable for school. it's our backup if we don't find anything else. any suggestions would help me out as i am trying to gather everything and all the school supply list things before the start of school. wait til i tell you everything on their required school supply list!!

just a few cards done this past week. have a great week!

spam anyone?

just a few cards. not much time so this will be quick.some birthday cards.....summer time favorite of ours---ICE CREAM!!!!

spam musubi----yummo! (like a spam sushi for those who has never had one!) don't knock til you try it!

made with leftover scraps

bryan's friends

one morning, i saw brayn lining up all his little friends to watch TV with him on the floor in our bedroom. so cute! let me introduce you to: top row- brobee, magenta. bottom row: brownie, blues clues, cappuccino, and tattoosome recent cards

this set will go to my teacher friend who gave the boys a whole lot of fun books our last trip home. they love all reading the books! i figure she can use these during the school year to write parents notes or thank yous. now, to just get to the PO to mail these out.................

happy friday all!

sf trip---part 2

more pics from our sf trip! here's a picture of the kids at the playground. met our friend, kevin and his 2 adorable twins, kobe & nirobi (not sure of the spelling) at the playground in GGP. BTW, we don't know that older girl in the hip glasses in the picture BUT she was an angel. she played with all the little ones here and watched them. she entertained the kids so we adults could talk. yes, we let a random stranger play with our children. i have a picture of all of us, including kevin, and excluding nice stranger girl but it was "lost" somehow in downloading. been having lots of problems lately with downloading pics & losing the last half. luckily this time, i have the pics still on the memory card.

our little daredevil bryan climbing up high by himself

here's a cute shot, also with unidentified nice girl
cuties

likes to be on the big boy swing

my bad boys sliding down the wrong way (brandon calls it his "style")

see what bad influence my kids are? i think he was about to slide tummy-side down but he didn't!

he hung on by himself..........for less that 5 seconds!we got to walk around GGP before the playground

this is brandon walking through a bike rack

walking in the neighborhood with unkle matt & ah ma (my sister...it's what the boys call her)

brandon calls himself the corn monster when he eats these

made these into B&W...pics of bryan playing with my sister. i love all his different expressions

i got to meet up with my friend jennifer. i've known her since 1st grade! look at brandon's silly face! thanks for a great lunch jen!

and this is my teacher from 4th grade, mrs. fujiwara. it was great to see her again!

i got to see my friend andy too. i haven't seen him in years but i've know this guy since the 6th grade! brandon played ultraman with him at lunch. ok ak, he is waiting for you to return to japan to give you his ultraman shopping list!!!

i also got to see my best friends michele and cheryl. wish we had more time to hang out! next trip..........................!!

DT (design team)

a few weeks ago, my friend amy forwarded me a DT call that was right up my alley. and i made it! see the announcement here .

it's all about reusing, repurposing and recycling. they will be carrying products with the green intitiative. not eveything they carry is going to be 100% recycled they do plan to show you companies that are unique, and have made a promise to do what they can to be green. check it out!

(thanks amy!)

sf trip-- part 1

earlier in july, we went home to SF for a week. my sister took us to the discovery museum.

here's bryan hoarding all the frogs & trout

brandon playing the xylophone

my sister drew the boys robots

i love this place---it's so hands-on. the boys were not interested in this area below but i was. but i couldn't stop to play.....time to move on.

bryan did want to paint though.......but he stpped cause his hands were getting all goopythey had some chinese thing going on in one area and i thought this was too funny. these are plastic bok choy, chinese sausage, and chicken. couldn't figure out what the other 2 things are

climbing a tree

brandon & bryan LOVED this area. will need to ask eddie to build us something like this in our backyard

brandon could have stayed in this area all day

taking a rest in this ginormous tree trunk

eddie was in pittsburgh most of the week we were there so he missed the fun

now he's hoarding all the crabs

after a fun time at the discovery museum, my sister treated us to this place

it was yummy but i think i prefer sprinkles more

i have more pics from this SF trip. i got to see a lot of my friends this time! be back soon!