Isabella & The Peanuts Gang

I was grateful to attend this

Charlie Brown production with Isabella and her class!

The show was outstanding

-I'm always blown away by anything "live"-

and it was a great chance to spend some one-on-one time

with my daughter.

She is a beautiful girl,

nearly as tall as me now,

and it blows me away that once

upon a time she ran around in diapers...

Okay...crying now.

I love you, Isabella!

xoxomom

Isa & The Mosaic Art Contest

Our town hosted an art contest
and called for all area
fifth graders to participate!

The goal?
To create a mosaic art piece
using the theme:

Nature and Wildlife

All winning entries would
be turned into real mosaic pieces
to be displayed at a local sculpture park!

Isabella's mosaic representation of

Half Dome

(It's in her blood!)

was selected,
and she, and like classmates,

set to work with real mosaic tile!

Isabella and her good friend Katie!

Woo hoo!

Congratulations, Isabella!

Your piece is amazing!

{Now we just have to hike you up there!}

xoxomom

Activity Day Recognition Night

I am so, so fortunate to work with Activity Days in Primary!

This year,

our recognition night

was a father and daughter affair

featuring pizza,

a quilting service project,

and cake decorating!

The girls had a BLAST! 

And it was wonderful to see them

spending some one-on-one time

with their dads. 

The sugar-buzzed evening ended

with a raging game of something or other in the gym!

All I know is,

they kept running back and forth

screaming!

Congrats girls!

You have accomplished so much!



Isabella's 10!

Is there a more beautiful and graceful

girl on the planet?

Well, of course there are!

I made the other two too!

Just kidding, but really,

Isabella is a wonderful, wonderful daughter

and celebrating her 10th birthday is a joy!

Starting the day off right with

carmelized apple and cinnamon pancakes

and blue milk!

We spruced up the house with blue decor

and celebrated with family.

The menu?

Her favorites!

She's totally a diner girl!

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, & gravy!

Per her request,

chocolate cake with fresh blackberries!

Isabella and her grandpa Jesus.

...

Isabella,

words cannot describe

how grateful we are for you!

You have a wonderful heart,

so generous and kind,

but above all,

you are

choice!

We know that!

And we want you to remember that too!

Have a wonderful 10th year on earth!

And may you have many, many more!

xoxo

mom + dad

What a little white paint can do...

Going through the blogosphere

in search of how to make a zipper-less pillow cover,

I hit upon a great sight,

Vintage Revivals,

and fell in love with this mural tree tutorial!

I had a total

"I can do that!" moment,

and yes...

...within minutes I was on a ladder!

Check out the blog for details,

including how to project the image on the wall to

get the tree just right.

As for myself,

I'm a wing-it kind of gal

and chose to tackle the project free-hand style.

Either way,

the finished project is spectactular!

We added a few simple touches to personalize her space,

{ Don't you LOVE printers? }

and...

Ta-da!

Not bad for a few hours of work!

...

Now back to those pillow covers...

{ Smile }

Lending a Hand

This year Bella and I tackled the

Mormon's Helping Hands Project

at a local park.

Our task:

To locate, clear, and stake oak seedlings.

I also volunteered to take photos of the event

and loved my instructions:

"Avoid taking pictures of smiley people staring a the camera."

What?!?

But it's a bunch of Mormons!

My Bella

Happily NOT smiling.

There's the one and only oak seedling we found!

Seriously,

it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack...

or a frown admidst this crowd!

{ he-he}

Allergies aside,

it was a great day!

I LOVE spending time with my daughter,

and lunch afterwards is always a treat.

Thanks for a wonderful day, Isabella!

I love working beside you, sweetheart!

Love,

Mom

Peanut Butter Jelly Time, The Hand Jive, & The Purple People Eater

It's Dance Fever!

For weeks,

all three girls have been practicing for the

Starstruck Dance Performance at their elementary school.

On the big night,

we were fortunate to have grandparents in attendance...

Along with the usual suspects!

Ava was our PB & J girl!

Bella our Hand-Jive girl!

And Iris made for the sweetest Purple-People Eater!

The school staff ended the show with a super-funny dance

to "You Be Illin'",

with the Principal smack in the middle of it all

hip-hoppin' it out!

Later we caught some pictures with the girls teachers who

were still dressed up from the performance!

...

It was a great night of fun,

and yes,

to this day we are still all singing and dancing to the songs!

Way to go, girls!