Bee Kneads Bread!

Yesterday was a great day to bake!  

 Bee, Bug and I made chocolate chip cookies, and I taught Bee how to knead The Best Bread Ever! 

 Yes, we're still sporting the whiskers from the Hello Kitty party.

Bee's 4th Birthday: A Hello Kitty Party

 

 A few of the cute little "kitties"

I love people.  I love my kids.  I love parties.  So, it was a party.  A 4th birthday party, no less.  Brooklyn saw some Hello Kitty party decorations a while back, so she decided on a Hello Kitty party.  We made Hello Kitty ear headbands, cake pops, and my mom made a kitty cake (pic to come!).  We bought crayons and Brooklyn glued pictures of Hello Kitty on them for party favors.  But none of that mattered, really.  It was the people.  We had such a fun time celebrating a special girl with family and friends.  Thank you to all who made her feel so special.

 Our family

 Cake Pops--YUM!!

 Hello Kitty ears for girls & party favor bags

 Duck-Duck Goose--hilarious game with 1-5 year olds

 Love these cuties.

 Group hug after Red Light/Green Light

 The Pinata!

 No, not digging for worms; frantically collecting candy!

 New PJs.

 

 Bug's ears are my fav.

When it was over, my dad said, "Thanks, great party"

I replied, "Anytime.  But let's keep it to twice a year."  

Love parties.  I'm tired.

Chocolate Strawberry Pancakes

I know I should have posted this MONTHS ago
when strawberries were still in season.

  But I didn't.  

So here you go anyway.  

This is my favorite breakfast at the Pancake House in Puerto Vallarta:  

Chocolate pancakes with strawberries.

 Not the best pictures in the whole world, but you can use your imagination,right?

So, the recipe?  Still perfecting that, but I have found several chocolate pancake recipes online.  

Just add strawberries to the batter, 

top with powdered sugar (or whipped cream--hello!!), 

and more fresh strawberries.  

A true delight!

Here's a pretty darn good recipe to get you started.  

Plus it has pictures for every step.  

Someone has time for such things.  Not I.

{click here for recipe}

New Shoes

Who doesn't love a good bargain?

Here's the shoes I found @ St. Vinnie's on Monday.

 Clogs.  I know.  But I love them!

 $3.47 & I don't think they've really been worn.  

(Parana gun!  Oh yeah!!!)

Dress & Headband for Bee's friend

  It was a birthday party!

Bee's friend "Joey" had her party at the local pool tonight.  

A gift was in order.

 Thankfully, I had already had this fabric cut to make this dress/top.  

(Because, of course, I realized I needed a gift at about 10:00 this morning).  

I had made one just like this for Bug months ago, and was going to make this for Bee, except that she wears the one I made for Bug.

[Insert big breath here; that was a dizzying sentence.] 

So this was the perfect garment to make for the perfect little birthday girl.

  I decided to make a headband to go with the dress.  I mean, what girl doesn't want an accessory? 

 

Bandana Skirt--view 2

My friend Kristina (check out Vintage Couture on FB) makes the coolest stuff.  Once she made me a skirt like this.  I still wear it & get compliments all the time.  THANKS KRISTINA!!  She has made me 2 of my favorite pieces in my wardrobe.

Bee was at a VBS this week and the theme was Sonshine Harvest.  They wore bandanas everyday to denote which group they were in.  Bee was a grape.  Yes, a purple bandana!  I figured she needed a bandana skirt to sport at VBS.  Okay, "need" would be the wrong word.  I figured it would be "fun" to make a skirt for her.  Let's just say Kristina is much better at constructing these adorable skirts.  Sadly, my first try left something to be desired in the construction, not to mention it was a tad on the small side.

I cut Bug a skirt at the same time.  The construction of her skirt was quite good, if I do say so myself.  However, it is a bit too small as well. This is what I get for bad math.  And sewing after the girls are in bed.

 (Bug's skirt!)

 (Yes, I'm proud that it lined up so nicely!  I'm usually so bad in the details.)

I'll work on a tutorial.  After I figure out the math.  :)  Maybe by then I can make compound sentences as well.  I'm lacking sleep.

Bee & Bug: Bathing Beauties

 What's been a major theme in our summer?  

Swimming.  

Swimming lessons, swimming at the pool, swimming at home.  

An army of bathing suits and towels drape over our bathroom shower. 

The girls have been great.  They love the water.  Sadly, most of July--usually our most sunny month--was cloudy and cold.  Swimming lessons do not stop because of rain, and the truth is we didn't miss even one day.  Nope.  Not that I didn't want to, particularly during the parent-child session I signed up for with Bug.  It has paid off though!  Although not independent yet, our "almost 4" year old, Bee, has vastly improved her skills in the water.  Now she even jumps in with the big girls!

Here are some other swimming snapshots.  I'll upload another video (since I'm having issues!) in the next post.

 Bee @ swimming lessons

 Bug in the "shower" at the kiddie pool

 Bee enjoying lessons!

 Bug jumping in & I know, my face is awesome.

 Practice kicking

 At Great Grandparents

 Bee is on the left.  No, I am not in this photo!!!

 

Playing with Grandma.