Father's Day card

This was the Father's Day Card that Charlotte sent to her grandfather this year. All of our card projects are painting-based because it's her favorite art activity. I cut out a tie shape from one of the recent paintings, glued it to a card, and voila!




We try to do something handmade for every holiday. Here is a list of our past work:

Mother's Day
Easter
Valentine's Day
Christmas
Thanksgiving

Everett's Naming Ceremony

Super awesome E made from coffee filters & spray paint.  I LOVE it.

Everett's super fabulous Godparents. 

It ended up that the crazy child has the chill Godparents and the chill child has the crazy Godparents. And please know that I mean "crazy" in a completely awesome kind of way.

Everett experiences a proper rack for the first time and immediately falls asleep. 

That being said, I adore this picture.

Cupcake Kiss.

J-man goes in for the full, two-handed lean, while Charlotte plays it cool.

Guess who was in a mood by the end of the day?

 

Cheers!

Father's Day

This weekend was late Mother's Day (Saturday) and early Father's Day (Sunday). We had company on Mother's Day and Everett's Naming Ceremony will be on Father's Day so we needed a double re-do on our holidays. Having grown up with a nurse (required to work every other Christmas) and having family on the west coast for a decade now, moving holidays around to fit our schedule is second nature around here.

Last Father's Day I was horizontal on the couch trying not to puke on the rug (thanks, Everett), and therefore B's Father's Day consisted of a very heartfelt high-five. Here was our re-do:

Ree's Eggs Benedict, with a little smoked salmon thrown in for B.

Father & son

Afternoon golf

Flashback: Charlotte's 2nd Birthday

Last summer I took a several month blog hiatus while I was in my first trimester of pregnancy and also enjoying some family vacations. As a result, several milestones didn't make it on here. And since I use the blog as much for myself as an online journal as I do to connect with others, I'll be putting up several posts from last summer.

Charlotte had a Purple Bubbles themed birthday party to celebrate turning two. Whether it's actual bubbles, the bubble game on my phone, or "bubble water" (seltzer), there's nothing bubble-related this gal doesn't like.

Purple Bubbles cake

A mini cake for my mom, who shares a birthday with Charlotte

Cake pop favors

"Charlotte" bubbles banner in the background.

"2" sign was made from foam board, spray painted purple and then spray painted with glitter paint, and hung with a white ribbon (it was actually a bright purple, but it's hard to tell with the lighting here)

Table decorations, including a framed painting of Charlotte's

I ordered four 3' balloons online and had them inflated at the local party store.
Beware though, they didn't all fit in our SUV and my mom had to drive over and help with transport. Oops!

This photo is awesome because it's so out of character for my little stage actress. She was struck with a sudden case of shyness during Happy Birthday.

In the background I attached a picture from each month over the past year so everyone could see how much she's changed and some of the fun things she's done. They were attached to a 6' purple board, but there were too many photos for the purple to be seen. A slideshow of the photos is at the bottom of the post.

 The two birthday girls.
Charlotte is wearing her Giant's cheerleader outfit that Ouiser made her,
along with her Giant's pom poms that we got for her.

Our annual photo spot, painted by Giovanina.

Easter

Hey, remember Easter? I know, me either. It was a while ago, but I still haven't balanced the whole kids/blog thing, so you're only hearing about it now.

We dyed eggs, which Charlotte approached with the precision and demeanor of an explosives expert. Next year we need to have about two dozen eggs available instead of six.

I love this one. "Dad, not now."

Then the next day was the Easter morning egg hunt (a HUGE hit), the Easter basket (fine, but not as exciting as the egg hunt), and Easter dinner with the family.

Since she's not old enough to know that Easter baskets usually contain candy, we went with a candy-free basket this year: Bunny ears, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, bunny socks, bubbles, and play dough. Not to worry though, she virtually had a dinner comprised entirely of Smarties since I didn't realize that the pile on the counter top was within her reach.

Easter Extras

Last year I brought gold eggs with fortunes inside to Easter dinner. It was such a fun tradition that I thought I'd keep it going this year with more fortunes. I made Jordan's Paper Carrots as the fortune holders and put a roll of smarties and the fortune inside. They came out SO cute, I was so happy with them. Plus, it was nice to have an Easter treat that wasn't egg-related.

This was Charlotte's, extremely appropriate, fortune.

In keeping with the theme, I also brought Shy Bunny cupcakes for dessert.

Easter Family Pics

Easter card

Every holiday I try to send a little something to Charlotte's grandparents and far away relatives. It's a good way to channel both of our creative energy and to bridge the distance a little.

I found an idea for egg cut-out cards that I modified by using some of her paintings. That girl loves her some paint, so all of our holiday ideas basically just involve crafty things to do with her paintings. A lot of times her attention span doesn't exactly show up, or she decides that painting on her arms is much more interesting than the paper, but with the Young Artist's Toolbox that she got for Christmas, we can stretch out the activity quite a bit. (I highly recommend the toolbox if you have any little painters in your life. There are so many tools in there to keep them busy)

To make the cards I just used blank cards that we already had, cut out an egg shape from the front (using a template from the internet), and used double-sided tape to stick a square of her painting to the inside. Don't forget to put the date somewhere on the card

Superbowl Prep

There was half a lime left over after making the guacamole. So Charlotte ate it.

Helping with phase 2 of the pulled pork.

Crock pot food is the way to go for a Superbowl where your team is actually playing. No work, all reward. In case you want an easy meal:

Phase 1: 4lbs pork shoulder, 2 onions, 2 C liquid (combo of water and root beer), cook for 8 hrs overnight

Phase 2: Drain liquid, add more onion and BBQ sauce, remove excess fat and shred meat, cook for another few hours

Phase 3: Put on roll, top with vinegar-based cole slaw, EAT.

      

Christmas 2011

Christmas morning was a lovely, if unexpectedly drawn out, affair. Charlotte isn't quite old enough to digest the whole Santa concept, so she had forgotten anything we had told her by the time she woke up. Then when we tried to explain that there were presents downstairs, we were met with equal parts confusion and suspicion.

As it turns out, presents, plural, weren't necessary. Christmas 2011 will henceforth be referred to as Scissor Christmas. We eased her in to the whole present thing by starting her off with her stocking - glue sticks, glitter glue, pink camo band aids to play with, button candy, and her first pair of Crayola Kids Scissors.

Game. OVER.

The next two hours were spent in the approximate fashion:

Charlotte - I cut! I cut! I cuttin!
Us - OK, let's open some more presents!
Charlotte - I cut presents?!
Us - No, honey, you don't cut them, you open them.
Charlotte - No, I cuttin.
...

B (to me, during all the cutting) - Seriously? SCISSORS?
Me - Well I knew she'd really like them, but I never envisioned them grinding the entire holiday to a halt six seconds after it started.
B - I need to call my mom and tell her that we're going to have to move our Christmas brunch to tomorrow...
Me - Seriously, I'm starting to get a little worried we're not gonna make it.
...

Me (to Charlotte) - Honey? Honey? Look, alllll of these presents are for YOU! They're from Santa and Grandpa and Uncle Mark and Nonna...
B - Charlotte? Don't you want to open another present?!
B - What if daddy gives you some gummy bears? If I give you gummy bears will you open some presents?
Me - Charlotte?
Charlotte - I love cuttin!!

Super awesome pink tricycle care of Nana & Papa