Happy Birthday, Meesh!

My baby sister is having a birthday today! We always used to tell her the 4th of July fireworks were for her birthday – and she should make a wish. Tonight while I was watching our fireworks I made several birthday wishes for her….

I wish you a birthday day filled with your sweet family.

I wish you a year filled with success.

And I wish you a lifetime filled with happiness and love.

I’m grateful to have such a beautiful sister to share this world with. You know what they say, ” A sister is someone who knows everything about you, and loves you anyway.”

I love you Meesh. Have a very happy day and year!

-Bean

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Happy Birthday, Aunt JB!

Our lovely JB is having a birthday today! Pop over and say happy day to her maybe? I have this crazy cute pic of her and Ad that I cannot attach here – we are on our travels and I am traveling light (only iPad)…grrrr!

But imagine if you will my sweet lady kissing Addie’s cheek and Addie’s face full of the love we ALL feel for JB.  It is adorable. Just have to take me word for it.

This is your year, baby! Happiest of birthdays to you!

All our love,

j, c, e, & a

Last little bits of school.

I can’t believe that school has been out for nearly two weeks…wait, two weeks today(!) and I’m just now trying to get caught up. I fear if I don’t get these blogged…they will just get archived and forgotten. So at the very least, we are going to do a whirlwind trip down memory lane and why we were so insane around here the last month.

Addie’s “sculpture (?) was selected for the SG District Art Show. They wander through all the schools and select art and then have a gallery night. Em’s art was picked last year and the year before, this time it was Ad’s turn.

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Um, it’s a cat. Of course it is.

Next up, we had a field trip (or three!) thrown in. The third graders visited the Botanic Gardens in Claremont and learned about the Gabrielino Indians.

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When in Claremont…you do as the Indians did, I guess.

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Next up…our little thespians performed in class plays. Addie was…of course, a cat in the Little Red Hen.

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Em was one of the lead parts, as the King Snake in two performances of the Biomes play. She did an excellent job. I’m certain J. has video of this and I’ll try to get it up soon. My favorite line of hers was “NO! It’s because of my thermoregulation!” And you can bet all the kids in Mrs. J’s class know what thermoregulation is!

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And then the church musical hit. The musical was Once Upon A Parable – and it was spectacular. The entire cast was fantastic. Em had quite a few different roles. Addie was…ha! No, not a cat. She was a piglet this time. And she even had some lines. I know that video exists of this one too…I promise…it’s coming.

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Would you look at those t-shirts, though? I wonder where they had them done? 😉

Let’s see. We had two different dance recitals and all of the crazy rehearsals that went along with each. Em is taking a hip-hop class, so she shuffled to Party Rock Anthem.

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She got to be one of the girls that runs down the aisle at the start – it was dark and they were all lit up with glow-sticks. She was really geeked about that and told Daddy where to get tix and what side to sit on for the “surprise.”

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There were no photos or video allowed – so the first shot is obviously before the recital. And I don’t know HOW that second shot got on my camera? Strange. I bought the DVD, so in a few weeks we’ll have the dance in all of its glory.

Next up we had a ballet recital for our prima ballerina. Addie loves her some ballet, it is the one thing I never have to ask twice about, she is always ready to go and always dancing around and practicing. She is hoping to picked for the Select class so she will “get to” dance twice a week (aye!) like her ballet idols, Audrey and Yvette. She is fascinated with Yvette who went en pointe this year. (I am a little bit in awe of her myself, I must admit!)

The lovely ladies after the performance.

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There is no keeping of the costumes and of course, no cameras or videoing allowed. And for this one I didn’t even try…we were really far back. I bought a snapshot for her book and yes…the DVD. It will be here soon, too.

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They did an At The Movies recital, so Ballet I danced to Woody’s Roundup from Toy Story (hence the cowgirls!). Every year I am blown away by the production quality of their shows. It really does make the time and money so worth it. Addie dedicated her performance to her Daddy since he had to spend Father’s Day at the ballet. Smudge-y lipstick and all.

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We had our end-of-year piano recital. This was Addie’s first performance in front of a real audience. She did great. Might have been a little nervous since she played a very fast Cinderella’s waltz, but she got up and did it which is more than I can say for me.

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She would like me to include this photo so everyone can see that recitals are “great because you get to wear fancy dresses!”

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Ems is an old pro at this piano thing, now. She played one of my favorite pieces she does and then she performed Hedwig’s Theme – from Harry Potter. She has been working on it for months now and Miss Suzanne finally gave the ok. She was really excited. But too fast on her bow, so I just got a blur of her fancy dress.

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I love watching her play. She is so focused and looks so beautiful.

And…(I told you it was crazy around here!) we had a little outdoor party for our fabulous ladies who all have June birthdays!

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I think the kids really liked the ice cream bar…

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Yes…homemade ice cream. I’m obsessed now. I think I did 5 or 6 batches and there wasn’t really any left. So I think it was a success.

My favorite part was lighting and releasing our wish lanterns. Diane and Jamie started this tradition for my birthday and we have decided that it is a tradition we will do for everyone.

Light a lantern, make a wish, send it off.

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The rocket scientist of the group – really, he IS a rocket scientist! – assures us that the fuel burns out when it gets up high and then it will just fall back to earth. My wish is that he is right.

I’m sure your wish is that this never-ending post will finally be over.

And it is.

Wishing you all a fantastic summer.

Crafty Tuesday ~ House Edition

“For being a ‘STAY-at-home Mom’ – you are never, ever home!”

That is the greeting I got from my sister when I picked up the phone yesterday. I can’t really argue with her. Our start to summer has been just one big, long stream of to-dos. I think we are finally slowing down this…just in time to jet off to Chicago & Michigan for a vacation in a few days.

Before I go, I promise to update pics & vids of all of our recitals and excitement over the past 2-3 weeks. All of this activity has left very little time for any Crafting…but we have been trying very hard to get our house ready for summer. So while it isn’t so much crafty, there has been some decorating – or at least decisions – happening. Including some…wait for it…decisions and activity on the KITCHEN. Yes, indeed. My indecision has finally stepped (cautiously) aside and we have movement, people!

But first…I finally found a great outdoor rug for our patio. I found it when (and where) I wasn’t even looking for one. I’ve been eyeing one at Target that has been hanging out around $119-$129 price range, so I had planned on waiting for that clearance tag. Then I was walking out of Bed Bath & Beyond a few weeks ago, I happened upon this one that I like even better, on clearance for $75! And of course with that 20% coupon that is always floating around – we scored for $60 a nice new outdoor rug.

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I like that it is neutral enough that when we paint and I change my cushions the rug will fit right in.

Before a little June Birthdays party we had last week, J. also hung some cool outdoor party lights for me. I have a few more strands to zig-zag over the patio…

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I like them so much, I think they are going to stay up. They are going to be perfect for dinner and drinks on the patio all summer long.

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NOW…on to the kitchen. Are you guys all sick of hearing about this kitchen yet? I’m 100% certain poor J. is. And I think he is completely exasperated with me, too.

When our kitchen saga began I was certain that I wanted white appliances. J. wanted stainless steel. I was not convinced. After months of shopping for appliances I said to J, “You know I kind of like the stainless steel look. I think it might work.” J. just rolled his eyes at me. (And we got stainless steel appliances.)

When we started looking at flooring, J. pipes up with “I like the wood floor look.” Oh. No. I was insistent that we could never do that – we have real hard wood floors throughout the entire house, we can’t match it and it would just look weird. No. Absolutely not.

Um. Yeah. About a month ago I *found* this great porcelain tile that…looks like wood planks. It is definitely different than our hard wood, and is dark and looks like the wood beams we have running through the living and dining room. Guess what we are doing on the kitchen floor? (Ignore crap phone photo! Soon I’ll have real photos!!)

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The poor man. But, he has been dealing with me and my whims for over 20+ years now. I think he has probably learned, just give me a few minutes (weeks, months…), I’ll come around to most things. I just need to work it all out in my little brain.

Anyhow – the flooring is tile…and so cool. And yes, we are going to have it laid out in a herringbone pattern like that. It will have definite differentiation and will be kinda awesome, I think.

Meanwhile, to refresh your memory. Our kitchen yesterday morning –

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Our kitchen around noon-ish –

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(Hi Robert & Henry! Thank you, thank you, thank you for wrestling with the 40+ year old glue and vinyl. Man…it did not look fun.)

And our kitchen last night after they left –

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It already looks better! 😉 And will you please note that I DID (mostly to make up for my stubbornness!) finally hang some shades in the breakfast nook for J. It was a compromise of sorts – I was not going to put those horrible shutters back up, J. was not going to let me not do anything…so in the meantime I found simple roman shades at Lowe’s. I might have to va-voom them up with some trim or fabric once we get colors sorted out.

And now – it is imperative that we paint the cabinets. I mean, it was before, but in a few days we are going to have dark wood floors, so I think it will speed up the need for paint when I see all that wood in there.

I had my design posse come over for lunch a few weeks ago and we all came up with these two colors:

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Except I’m going to match it to Benjamin Moore colors…we had a Behr color deck to use, but I’ve really fallen in love with BM paint. It is exceptional and I get $5 off coupons from them regularly.

We are thinking the lighter parchment color (which is just a shade darker & a little creamier/browner than our trim color) for all of the upper cabinets and the gobi color for the lower cabinets. That way we don’t have a whole lot of white/cream with all of the cabinets + the tile countertop going on. But it will be a nice progression with the lighter color on top blending with the tile and drawing your eye down to the floor -and the dark colors on bottom for a nice grounding. I’m so excited – and just a wee bit relieved – ok, a lot relieved! I’m ready to paint…now!

But I fear it will have to wait til Robert finishes the floor, which will be just in time to leave for our vacation, which means…by the end of summer it might be kinda finished?

Happy Daddy Day!

To Dads everywhere today:

Hoping you are well-cared for and pampered…

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and wishing you lots of love and (hammock) relaxation.

To my amazing husband – thank you for being the absolute best dad in the world to the girls, and for sharing this rollercoaster of parenting with me every day. All the while making it look so darn easy and fun.

And to my Dad – thank you for modeling what kind of guy I needed to marry so that I’d have a father for my girls who was as great as you.

All of our love to both of you!
Care, Em & Ad

Happy Friday.

I can’t decide what is making me happier today.

It could be the fact that I just washed my ugly, out-dated, most hated kitchen linoleum for the very last time. (Good news, the tile we picked was on clearance. Bad news, the tile was clearanced because it is being discontinued. We just went on a bit of a wild goose chase to hunt down enough tile so they can start on MONDAY! )

Perhaps it is that I got a little coffee break this afternoon. (I really wanted/needed a little coffee this afternoon but I was hoarding my very last Nespresso coffee pod for tomorrow morning. When we got home from the tile hunt, there was a magical  Nespresso shipment on my doorstep.)

Maybe what makes me most happy is that we only have one more crazy weekend – a ballet recital this time – to get through. Then everything –  ballet, dance, choir, piano – it all will have fallen off of our calendar.

Happy Friday, indeed.

I pinned it…so I made them.

I didn’t even think twice about pinning this lovely, luscious-looking “cookie” when I saw it on Pinterest last week.

Photo & Recipe – Texanerin Bakery

Peanut butter + chocolate? My two favorite things. Then I noticed the little “no sugar, no flour, no oil” tag and I thought – “Wow! Kinda healthy, too? TRIPLE bonus!” Of course I never even gave a thought to what it actually did have in it to replace all the good stuff.

We have been trying to eat “good for us” stuff around here lately – trying to be cognizant of our homemade ice cream sugar and processed food consumption. We haven’t been perfect, but all dinners this week have featured veggies from our CSA box and own garden and have been healthy and tasty. No Subway (eek!) or any other fast food, and minimal ice cream from that darn ice cream machine. (Ok, not really minimal, but in my defense…I do know that every ingredient in my ice cream is organic and I can pronounce it!!)

So when I started feeling a little chocolate urge last night, I pulled up this recipe and set to work. Garbanzo beans and honey. THAT is what replaces all the sugar, flour and oil? Um….ok. I had the beans and the honey and, of course, the Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips!

They are super quick, super easy and I pulled them out of the oven right as the girls were sitting down to dinner. I let them have one after dinner and they both were totally into them. Addie said hers was a little too “smushy” but Erin said that they “must be warm.” (I think her exact words were “But cold? Yuck. These need to be warm!”)

I actually really, really like chick peas. I eat them cold – so to me the cookies were good cold, but yes – they are delicious hot! It is that gooey chocolate and peanut butter and the chick peas just give it a little texture, but you definitely can’t taste them!

The cookie connoisseur of the house was not so convinced, however. I had showed him the pic after I pinned it last week and he commented on how good they looked. But when I said “there is no oil, sugar or flour in them,” and after swallowing his first bite, he asked, “Um…what is in it then?”

I told him and I’m not altogether sure he approved. I notice he did not take a plateful in to cozy up to and watch TV with like he usually does with my cookies.

But three out of four thumbs up in the house. That isn’t too bad a rating, I’d say.

Crafty Tuesday ~ Gifts Edition

Eva strikes again.

I am certain by now you know of my love for our Silhouette machine. Look what a little vinyl did for these teacher end-of-year gifts. Instant personalized cups for summer!

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And…I saw some family tree prints with the little birds (for each birdie in the family!) awhile ago and decided that I wanted to tackle family trees too…only doing it as canvas/painted art. With THREE best girls with June birthdays, I decided this was the craft to try. With only a minor set-back, I think they turned out pretty good.

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I started with some square blank canvases (thanks to Hobby Lobby!), and painted them a base color – the color I wanted the trees to be – not the major color.

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And then I cut out the tree & birds with Eva and adhered it onto the canvas.

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This is a good way to use up bits and scraps of odd colored vinyl, since you are not really using the applique. I used outdoor vinyl, because it is what we had. It is however, very hard to make sure the edges are really applied well on the canvas. I tried to smooth it down while I pressed on the back of the canvas to make sure it was adhered. (This will become important in a minute or two…)

Then…paint your overall color over the top of the vinyl.

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(Yes, sorry about switching paintings on you…same steps, different tree and colors!)

Let dry, and peel the vinyl up. You *should* see your object outlined and colored in the color that you put down first.

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And it DID work, but since I didn’t get all of my edges all pressed down perfectly, my tree and birds were kind of jaggy. So I ended up repainting the tree by hand to get it nice and smooth and neat. But at least I had a good outline to follow and didn’t have to freehand it.

The text, on the other hand, did not fare so well. So I ended up cutting the text out of vinyl again and just using the text instead of the paint trick.

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There was no way I was getting nicely printed text from my paintbrush. It worked just as well.

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I think they were liked by all, and I can’t wait to make one for us for our new kitchen.

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Coming up for air.

Deep breaths.

The first in over two weeks.

The girls left this morning as a 3rd grader and a 1st grader.

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And now our house now has a 4th grader and a 2nd grader.

Well, actually our house has no kids tonight.

Em is in Palm Springs with her best friend.

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Ad is having an end-of-school celebratory sleepover at her best friend’s.

Daddy and I had a date filled with sushi and a little shopping.

And maybe tomorrow I’ll have some more energy to fill in the blanks.

For now, just know that we are here. Slowing down. Just in time for summer.

It is here and I couldn’t be happier to see it.