picnic fun

can you belive summer is almost over? i have no idea who brandon's 1st grade teacher will be until the day before school starts. we have been slowly getting his school supply list checked off. when i was younger, we never had a supply list. here is what's on there: 1 pencil box, 1 box skinny crayola markers (6 ct), 24 #2 pencils, 1 pack 12 ct crayola coloring pencils, 1 yellow highlighter, 1 fiskars blunt 5' scissors, 1 box kleenex, 2 pink pearl erasers, 2-24 ct crayola crayons, 2 dry erase markers, 24 glue sticks, 2 reams of white copy papy, 1 box of ziploc bags (sandwich or gallon size), 1 container disinfectant or baby wipes, 1 ream of colored copy paper, 1 elmer's white glue,, 1 set addtion/subtraction flash cards, 1 pack 3x5 index cards (lined or plain), 3 pocket folders (red, yellow, blue). whew!!!! anyone wants to donate any of these supplies for us?!! j/k
i'm getting my school cards done early this year too. here is one for his 'unknown' 1st grade teacher. it says, "have a great year"! she'll probably need it!!
just curious, to my peeps in your neck of the woods, do you have a supply list for school to bring in? sharing some pictures of a picnic day i had with the boys. we are so lucky to have so many parks where we live. i mean, the whole 2.5 hrs we were there that day, only 5 people walked by on the trail. no one around us so the boys could be a loud [and annoying] as they want.
here they are each holding a rollie pollie.

look at all that space! and no one else in sight!i usually pack sandwiches, finger snack foods, lots of fruit, juice boxes and water. sometimes, i'll bring bubbles. other times, their balls and bikes.i highly recommend this....the boys play tag, we lay down and listen to nature. they ask me questions. they tell silly jokes.

i bring them each a notebook and they draw and write. this one below is brandon's drawing.here is mine. i just did leaf rubbings. came out very pretty. i haven't done this since grade school!

this one is brybry's. i love that he likes to write and draw. he already knows how to write his abc's. you would have trouble seeing what some of his letters are but i can make it out =) he makes my job easy. already learned how to spell his name (and ours) a while ago.so go out to your parks and enjoy!

the OC fair & making simple flower embellishments

a few weeks ago, we went to the OC fair at night. it was also that night that we adopted a beta fish. someone had left or forgotten their fish prize and left it on the waiting areas outside. maybe they couldn't or didn't want to bring in to the concert. some lady saw us passing by and kindly asked if my boys would like a fish and of course, the boys answered yes in unison! [happy to say, "marlin" is still alive & swimming!]

we did not ride any rides BUT we did have some fair food. 1st stop---here for a ginormous turkey leg. i find fair food extremely over-priced.... $9.75 for the turkey leg. but can't complain....it was yummy and fed the 4 of us!

we also had some funnel cake before we left. delish!

little brybry ended up hogging the turkey leg that was as big as his head!i remember my dad taking me on a slide similar to this one at our state fair YEARS ago. look at all the yummy colors! fun!we stumbled across a literacy for children booth while at the fair. this nice girl read them a story and told the boys after she finished the story, they could then pick out a book to take home. there were new & used books and of course, the boys BOTH picked old, used books! maybe they take after their mama who likes old vintage stuff!

here is a card from a set i recently made. i don't have a lot of play moolah so making

my embellishments are a must sometimes. theses flowers ones were easy peasy. self explanatory....for you non-crafters, LMK if you want me to send you instructions. they were made from a vintage music sheet book.
here is the set of 4 cards i made. just changed up the color in the center of the flower.

speaking of vintage, can anyone help me out with finding an old (vintage) flower frog? i have been looking for over a year now at places like thrift shops and the goodwill. no luck. we don't have too many garage sales in my area either. i am looking for a tarnished green one or a silver one....not too big. something under $10. i would pay you for shipping too. thanks!

BTW, don't forget to enter for chicken poop!! see here.

no calories post & chicken poop giveaway

hello again. seems like summer time, i have more time to post but i still post sporatically!
here is a recycled altoid tin i covered and made into this:cute, no? i really do love this stamp set.

inside, i filled with 2 instant coffee packets, rich hand cream, and lip balm. and yes, the lip balm is named 'chicken poop'! see the end of this post for blog candy giveaway.

i WAS going to give this to a coworker who just had a birthday but after i finished it, it was too cute to give up! [shhhhhh, she won't know!]speaking of delicious, we love going here after our trips to the wild animal park or the san diego zoo. such a treat! the boys will have a fresh cup of homemade sorbet or ice cream.not only are their desserts decorated beautifully but so is the front of the shop. such inspiration!almost looks too good to eat!

we always get some to go too in addition to the ones we ate there already!!

so how about a giveaway? i so happen to have an extra tube of chicken poop lip balm! wanna try it? some of you may [or not] know that i am very OCD about lip balm. i must have it on all the time. there is one in every single room of the house. 1 if not 2 in my purse. and i'm always game on trying new lip balm flavors. you'd think i was crazy if you saw a picture of my lip balm "collection"!!

so just tell me what your all time favorite dessert is or favorite dessert place. or tell me your favorite lip balm brand. comment on this post til august 12th and i will pick a winner then.

thanks for stopping by and always leaving lovely comments.

crabby

hello! just a card i made for this challenge here. very simple & fast to do. flower is made from vintage music sheet paper.
i am working on things for my sister's baby shower that i am throwing her. lots to do & make!!last weekend, we went to the sealife aquarium at legoland. not as big as i thought it was.sharing a few pics. some of these pics were from my iPhone and some from my camera (with no flash) so some pictures may look grainy.

SHARK!!

mr. crabby

cup of tea

if a teacup with a face doesn't make you smile, then i dunno what will! maybe 4 teacups with faces?? kept this card clean & simple for this challenge. teacups were paper pieced with 2 different patterened papers. we've been exploring our area more this summer. just seeing what the community has to offer. and surprisingly, there are tons of things to do with the kids. many of them FREE! we happen to find out last sunday that it was the sunday of the month that gave free rides on these mini trains. of course the boys loved it! brandon was a HUGE thomas the train fan by the time he was 1 1/2 yrs old. he could identify all the trains even though they all looked the same to me.

we told brybry that there were little people passengers in the front.

we look a little ridiculous right? the weather was nice---sunny, not too hot with a nice cool breeze.

better than the temps we've had days before where it was in the high 90's.silly boys! we rode the train 2x! fun day! after that, we went to the local library. they had free craft day. the boys made a caterpillar and a butterfly.

i wonder what our next adventure will be this weekend.....what does everyone else have planned? check your local city page.......you will be pleased with all the events your city (and nearby cities) have to offer. just fooling around with a picture of bryan.

brybry's eggies

one of brybry's favorite breakfast foods are "eggies". not sunny-side up like these but scrambled. i always enjoyed the times when i was home having breakfast time with brybry when brandon was in school. that was 'our' time. while i made his breakfast, he'd sit at the dinner table and insist i give him homework to do or paper so he can write & draw. so cute! cannot wait for the school year to start so i can have me & brybry time again!
hope this card is fun & cute to you all.....joining in on the moxie challenge here.

apparently, not everybody can do the tongue roll---can you? like the silly things bryan does! and i love how he's hugging a tree cause i told him to! ha!

shabby & HOT

created this shabby vintage card out of a card i received from a friend (hi leesa!). too pretty to throw out! i cut a panel out from part of the card and added a bit of this and that. there's a Moxie challenge going on here so check it out if you like doing shabby/vintage cards OR if you just like looking at this style, there are lots of good looking entries to feast your eyes on. (contact me if you want the supply list too lazy to list.

sooooo, just the other week, i was complaining how gloomy and ugly its been here. and now--- it hotter than hot!!

i took the boys on a mini picnic friday to the great park. it's nearby our house and it has this great big air balloon that you can take a ride. it's anchored down but still, an experience to be had. there's also lots of grassy area for them to run and the plus---no one around so they can be as loud & annoying as they want and i don't have to worry about them bothering anyone!

i surprised brandon & bryan by secretly inviting a friend of ours to join us. brandon & peyton went to preschool together but were not in the same class for kinder but we still had our playdates and saw each other since we live steps away from each other. she has a brother, jax, who is a little bit older than bryan (and another little brother, evan, who is not in this pic).

the kids all had a fun time! did i mention it was 92* that day??!! hot hot hot!!!