Red Day

Our pretty lady wore a new favorite dress (from Tea Collection) for red day this week and I had to use the opportunity for a mini photo shoot. 

I just love this clothing line!  So unique, so cute, and yet comfortable as can be!  And Ha!  The week after taking these, I saw a Little Citizen of the Month, back-to-school photo contest on Tea's Facebook page and entered a shot of Sophie that I took this morning.  Haven't heard anything but I'm pretty sure we were out-voted.  Ah well.  No biggie.  I'm normally not into putting my kids in any sort of contest - just doesn't sit well with me - but it was worth a try for a $100 gift certificate as the reward!  Anyway, if you voted for Sophie, thanks for your support!  :)

Love this baby of mine!

This & That

Just before school resumed, our babysitter held a "Summer Fun Day" for the kids she watches. They had water balloons and noise makers, arts & crafts and lunch outside. It was during a normal week day, so I was at work and didn't get pictures, but here is one of the things the kids came home with from that day. Large sheets of craft paper with the kids footprints all over it in different paint colors. :)

Not from the same day... but here's another paint craft that the kids did more recently. They "slopped" paint on the paper and then she placed a large piece of plastic wrap over the top and the kids squished the colors around and watched them blend through the plastic.
Will's 2nd day of school.

Our 2nd family movie night and floor picnic. This time we watched Tangled - a much more kid-friendly movie. It was enjoyed by all. Craig loved it. Haha!

Finally, a sunny morning before school for us to take pictures outside! School Day #3. And new kicks for Will. He loves "Puma Cat shoes". And Buckeyes colors! This was supposed to be his first day of school outfit, but it was just too cold. Is it me or is this an unusually cold start to the school year? He wore shorts a LOT more last fall.

I think he said he was "flying" here??

My fave.

Love these too. :)

My little monkey showing me how she can climb the wall. :)

Another cold snap and some playing outside after work.

I love this picture! I wish Will were a little more in focus like Sophie.

Another evening outside and some baseball playing - catching and batting.

Sophie has TWO new pair of Pumas for the season! Both of them hand-me-downs from our friend Charlize. Sooo nice! These and the ones pictured above on her tricycle and swing.

Tieing a shoe.

Batting stance.

Craig found some old football buttons from junior high and we joked that I should put them on my coat. Well this night, I put them on my sweatshirt and wore them outside to play until he noticed. It took him forever but he laughed his butt off. Haha! ;-)

Whining about something or other.

A couple of sunshine crafts that Will brought home from school. They started the year with a "Sunny Side Up" theme and here are his sunshine wind streamer and his handprint flower.

They also had a couple cute snacks at school that I asked my mom to share the recipes for. Will loved them.

The first is called Sunshine Salad and the directions are for one serving.

1 large spoonful pineapple tidbits

1 large spoonful banana slices

1 large spoonful lemon yogurt

shredded coconut

Toss the banana slices in some of the reserved pineapple juice. Assemble the fruit and coconut over the yogurt.

The other is called Sunshine Shake and is definitely on our list for breakfast pretty soon.
In a blender, combine 1 6oz can unsweetened frozen orange juice concentrate, 3/4 cup milk, 3/4 cup water, 1 tsp vanilla and 6 ice cubes. Makes 4 servings.

And the rest of these pictures are just some cute ones of Soph this week. :)

Off to school and the sitter's!

Hair Clips

After finding that our previous hair bow/clip vendor was no longer meeting our needs (only because of size and selection, not because of quality) and that our daughter was in need of some new, bigger clips to maintain the increasing amount of hair she's holding back, I went on an Etsy search for some more options.

I wanted at least 2" clips and pretty much only the snappie variety. I'm not partial to felt, but that seemed to be what I was coming up with when I was searching and I do really like them. I'm still in the market for some bigger sizes of the bow-style clips that we're currently using frequently and I appreciate their single-color practicality. And I also want more of the rosette-style clips that are such a popular design right now. But here is what I've ordered and received so far. A few holiday-specific clips, but the rest are chosen based on the majority of her clothing colors for fall/winter. Etsy ROCKS. But it does cost you hours of your life just searching through their obscene amount of selection.

These first bunch are from the May Crimson shop. I've ordered from her before and loved her clips. Sophie's got a TON of purple in her upcoming wardrobe so I definitely wanted a purple clip. And I just couldn't pass up the stegosaurus. I knew both kids would get a kick out of it. Sophie is (not surprisingly) somewhat interested in dinosaurs too after all that she hears out of her brother and she knows several of their names. This shop does allow you to customize your colors within her felt color choices. And that snowflake clip comes in lots of colors too.
These were just too cute. I LOVE them all. I actually didn't even order the froggie. She threw that in for free because she was apologizing for her shipment delay... which wasn't a delay AT ALL. Her items arrived the same as everyone else's... within just a few days. The snappies on the left are that rosette style I was talking about and I think they are going to be a very practical mix of colors. And how could you not love those "I heart Earth" and caterpillar clips

I liked other items from this seller and may order more from her, but these were an obvious must purchase just because they are flippin' adorable and were on clearance for $2.50. So cute for looking patriotic. I would never have chosen bobby pin styles, but I'll definitely use them.

Another very accommodating seller. I just had to specify the initial and side of my child's head that I would be putting it on. Actually, that's a good reminder if you plan to order handmade like this. If the clip could possibly look upside down depending on which side of the head you're clipping, you should specify your normal clipping side even if the seller doesn't request that information. I actually had to correct that with that cazrajane seller above with the "I heart Earth" and caterpillar clips. Again, she was more than accommodating and it was no problem to correct that.

That's it so far. These are all very reasonably priced and so much fun! We're especially loving the caterpillar clip right now.

Go Buckeyes!

The Buckeyes played their first game against Akron to open the 2011 season and won 42-0. Will, Sophie and Craig wore their Ohio State attire. I was going to lunch with a friend at kick-off and was not sporting the scarlet and gray for the occasion. Maybe next week...

Anyway, Craig wanted to get some pics of the kids now that he's into making picture calendars for the grandparents as Christmas gifts. Will was not super interested in cooperating, so we're going to try this again later too.

Sophie's wearing Will's hand-me-down jersey along with some super cute (brand new!) Puma's from her buddy Charli. I'm lovin' her tomboy look. ;) And Will's got on his new jersey from Nana and Papa and the buckeye necklace that Craig made from our buckeye tree out front. This one is the best of the two of them:

Her legs are looking crazy long to me lately!

Random: Has anyone seen those window clings (for the car) of the 4 people's silouettes doing the O-H-I-O hand motions? The first time I saw it, I thought it was so cool! And now I'm seeing them pretty frequently. I'm not a bumper sticker or window cling kind of person (and probably won't ever be) but I really like that one. ;)