sophie day!

today we had cousin Sophie for the day... how fun watching these girlie's together. they are so different but have lots of fun together - and can be quite silly! because the weather has turned and today was COLD! we had to find plenty to do inside. That meant I had to be on-my-mommy-game, especially with these two because as soon as we would finish one thing, they were asking what was next. Here's a few snapshots of the day & just a tid-bit of the rundown of activities:

potato head:

leaf impressions:

coin impressions:

coin sorting:

a little lunch break on our homemade placemats:

treats and a quick show:

alright alright... so we did sneak outside for JUST a few for some sidewalk chalkin':


and then... though i dont have a pic for it...... NAPS! :)

eat your heart out giada!

welcome to the 1st edition of Home Cooking with Chef Ellia! today you will learn how to make things "creamy" "crispy" and "just like giada" as well as tips on grilling french fries. these are things most home cooks can't live without... leave it to Ellia to teach you all ya need to know!


this is my life.

foo foo

today the girls and i went over to Gram's house for cousin Sophie's 3rd birthday party! It was a little birthday tea party and lived up to everything G-I-R-L! Its moments like these that you gotta love being a mommy to girls :) 4 little 2-3year olds got together and heres what went down:

-dressing up in adorable little dresses
-making their own pretend soup (cut up fruit and an orange sauce) & scarfing
-making yummy necklaces out of fruity cheerios... much more fun to eat than craft they discovered!
-not-so-daintly enjoying heart-shaped pb&j's, mini cheeses, crackers and peppermint tea.
-discovering all the goodies inside their Gram-made purses (crowns, bracelets, chapstick, etc.)
-decorating yummy cupcakes with all the pink icing and sprinkles the could get their hands on... and yes, devouring!
-helping the birthday girl open her fun presents & helping her play with them too.

Perfect little girly-girl froo froo foo foo party. Happy Birthday Soph!

random ramblings

lately we've been enjoying ellia's rambling of randomness. she intermixes phrases from all her different books into her day & normal conversation. here are a couple cute ones lately....

so i was sitting on the chair, feeding remae her bottle. ellia was in her seat eating a bowl of cereal. we were all pretty tired so no one had much to say. ellia looks over at me after about 10 min of silence (...rare) and says in her deepest voice "Somebody's been eating my porridge mommy!" too funny! that made my morning.

one morning she was running around with her baseball bat... runs into the kitchen after me and says "im gonna get you in the name of God!" (a slight mixed-up version of her david and goliath book) :)

belly laugh... poor remae

oh its the little things. how fun to be 2 and find such enjoyment over something so silly. ellie belly-laughin at remi's expense...

pool time

friday night we packed up and headed over to our best friend's pool to finally CHILL after a long week of work and heat! (sad and embarassed to say, this was our first pool outing of the season). And Remae's first time in the pool! She did amazing - just hung out in her little floaty and drifted around the warm pool. Ellia did pretty good too, but didn't want to leave the safe arms of our friend "nini." they were totally cute in their little swimmy suits! perfect weather, pool, friends, food, etc! can't wait for another pool day. check out my little beach babes:

Sew fun

this morning i decided to teach ellia a little sewing. shes always interested when im working on a project so i gave her one of her own. just used a few pieces of construction paper, punched holes and got an old shoe lace (pretty much the ole learnin-to-tie-your-shoes trick). i also tried it with a some scrap fabric. love those cost-free fun projects. She was a pro seamstress in no time! check her out:

a step away from easy-bake

so a planned morning trip to the zoo changed quickly to some good-ole' garage sale hopping. i found myself reeled-in to a few big baby/kid sales in a fancy neighborhood on the way & had what I felt was one of my more proud-bargain-mommy moments. $10 got me some pink gap shoes, a ralph lauren shirt & dress, 5 nice books and wait for it....

yes, thats right... Ellia finally got herself a little play kitchen. though nothing too "gourmet" about it, i just couldnt resist the deal of a perfectly sized kitchen, a bucket full of kitchen toys, (and the dream of someday soon having my own experienced cooking buddy in the kitchen with me). I know its only a step away from the classic (& inevitable) easy-bake oven purchase, but the joy of watching her face light up & spend the whole day doing nothing but blending & baking made it so worth it.
...ok so maybe not the best nutritional lessons here but what can I say?