Peanut Blossom

Little Pea turns 2!

In the midst of all the post-vacation chaos, Little Pea celebrated her special day. Two years old, I can hardly believe it. We came back from Disney and I had absolutely nothing planned for her little party. I had approximately 4 days to pull it together with no gifts, no "theme", no cake, zilch. 

After some consideration, it seemed only right to do a Disney mash-up theme for her. She has been obsessed with Minnie & Mickey Mouse for months. She had a blast on our trip and flipped out over meeting each of the characters in person. 

But to fully understand my little girl and her party theme, I have to share this funny story:

We had a magical moment at Disney's Hollywood Studios when a castmember pulled us aside just before we were set to leave the park and asked if we wanted to meet Donald Duck and Piglet. She told us there was no line (score!) and we'd have them to ourselves. We had this encounter in a private little courtyard off to the side where my girls got to interact with these two characters for 10 minutes by themselves. The girls were beyond thrilled.

Lots of hugs. Lots of smiles. Lots of roaring. 

Wait, what? Roaring? Yes. Both girls are obsessed with dinosaurs. Little Pea LOVES to roar like a dinosaur any chance she's given. For some reason she started roaring at Donald and Piglet and scared the living daylights out of them. The more they cowered the more Little Pea laughed and laughed and roared some more. You can see her doubled over in the photo above. Oh how funny she thinks she is. 

So it seemed only fitting that the dinosaur theme carry over from the Peanut's birthday onto Little Pea's but I wanted to keep with all things Disney. We chose Rex from Toy Story to take a place of honor on her birthday cake. Little Pea was thrilled--a 'saur & Minnie!! It doesn't get much better than that for a 2 year old I suppose.

Happy birthday to my little lady. I could not possibly love your fantastic mix of girlie sweetness & playful wildness any more than I already do. You keep things interesting in the very best of ways and I can't wait to see what your next year brings.

5 Ways to Kickstart the Disney Magic

I am so excited to share with you that we are taking the girls on our very first trip to Disney World next week. Handyman Tim has been working an insane schedule that has been hard on every last member of the family. We've all had to sacrifice precious time together and it has definitely taken it's toll. I decided that we all needed a little Family Togetherness Bootcamp type experience and where else is a better spot to do that than Disney??

Tim has never experienced the Disney Parks before. He has no idea what he's in for. The Peanut knows we are going but can't even imagine what she is about to see. Little Pea is just happy to be along for the ride. I'm the only one who knows and appreciates what this trip will be like so I've been doing my best to get everyone excited for this big unknown. 

For the last two months, I've been looking for ways to give the girls little teaser items to be used on our trip. So today I'd like to share:

5 Ways to Kickstart the Disney Magic Before Vacation!

1. Matching outfits from Etsy: According to friends who have visited the parks far more recently than I have, it is a pretty big deal to let your little princess dress up to play the part at the parks. Neither of my girls are overly into the Princesses, we don't own any of the costumes already. I couldn't imagine spending the money on expensive costumes just to dress them up in hot and scratchy tulle and satin for an amusement park visit.

Luckily for me, both girls LOVE Minnie and Mickey Mouse. I was able to find these adorable halter tops and ruffled shorts outfits on Etsy.  They are all cotton and much more comfy and breathable than any costume would have been. I love the cheerful polka dots! I know my girls will love wearing them this summer even after our trips. Money much better spent!

2. Disney Pin Trading Lanyards: This is another new-to-me item that didn't exist during my last visit to the parks ages ago. Disney has been offering these adorable metal pins for trading since 1999-ish. The kids (or parents too) can trade pins with anyone else they find willing at the parks. There are castmembers that walk around wearing lanyards of Official Castmember pins that are looking to trade with guests. This sounded like something the Peanut would love to experience but starter sets of 4 pins and a lanyard ran about $30. That seemed super high to me and the sets came with such cute pins that I knew the Peanut wouldn't want to trade! Kind of missing the point, right?

I took to Ebay and was happy to discover several sellers offering huge lots of pins for a fraction of the price. We acquired a random assortment of 25 pins for about $15. I didn't care if they were cute or not because they are meant to be traded away. To make it more fun for the girls, we put a single pin inside of each plastic Easter egg along with a few coins for our Disney Jar. They hunted for their pins on Easter morning and it was a huge hit.

The day before Easter, I realized they still didn't have anything to pin the pins on since I hadn't purchased lanyards. In a fit of inspiration, I decided to sew my own. I used this tutorial from Simply Cotton here and followed it almost exactly. The only difference was that I cut my fabric 3 inches wide and instead of folding each side in half way, I only folded them in 1/4 way so that the final width of the strap was a full inch. It's the perfect size. I cut them to be about 24 inches long so they are just right for my girls' necks.

3. Birthday Pins from the Disney Store: The Peanut's birthday was on March 28. Little Pea's will be just a few days after our trip on May 6. When a sales clerk heard I was there shopping for supplies to announce the trip to the Peanut on her birthday, she told me about their special birthday pins. If you're going to be celebrating that occassion on your vacation, you can pick these up for your child. Write their name on the space and have them wear them to the park. I'm told they'll receive special Birthday Girl treatment. I'll have to report back as to just what that might mean!

4. Disney Gift Cards for Special Occassions: The Peanut just lost her very first tooth last week. The Tooth Fairy in her infinite wisdom decided to bring a gift card from the Disney Store in just the right amount for the Peanut to pick out the stuffed animal she's had her heart set on ever since she heard of the trip. (It was her first tooth afterall. I'm sure the Fairy won't be this generous next time.) The gift cards can be set for any amount and can be used at any Disney Store on or off the parks. I've even heard they can be used for snacks and beverages and anything sold at the parks so it would be a great stocking stuffer, birthday treat, Valentine gift, Easter basket filler, etc. etc.

5. The Birnbaum Disney World Guide for Kids: My neighbor just recently told me about these adorable guidebooks made specifically FOR kids. They release a new one every year and her daughter has one for each of the years their family made the trek. It is part guide, part activity book, part scrapbook. The Peanut was thrilled to receive her very own copy since Mommy has had a mile-high stack of guides sitting on the living room table for weeks. At age 5, I feel she is just a smidge too young to get the most out of the book, but I don't regret the purchase at all. Ages 7+ might enjoy it far more. 

Birthday Traditions: Cake helpers

The Peanut has always been my little baking buddy. She loves to help me in the kitchen and I love having her there. I tried to do a little baking with Little Pea and the Peanut had a burst of jealousy, "No, mommy! I do the baking! I'm your helper." 

When it came time to make her birthday cake, the Peanut was thrilled to get back in the kitchen with me. Poor Little Pea had to go in the playpen in the living room so she wouldn't get in the way. It was then that I had a great idea and a new birthday tradition was invented.

I've decided that each of my girls will get to be my baking buddy when it comes to making her own birthday cake. The Peanut won't be able to argue when it is Little Pea's turn with that kind of logic. I know when she heads off to Kindergarten in the fall, Little Pea and I will have more time alone to do that sort of thing together, but I still love the idea of having my girls involved in the making of their own cakes. 

The only slightly discouraging side effect? They also then are involved in the decorating of said cakes. Ha! Anyone want to guess the kind of emotional strain I was under while biting my tongue as the Peanut lined up these dinosaurs on our masterpiece? "Sweetie, don't you want to maybe put one over there?"

"No! They are on parade!" 

Well alright then.

Spring has sprung

Don't mess with a pregnant lady. While I was not so patiently waiting for my Peanut, I told anyone who'd listen she was going to be a SPRING baby. Her due date was March 30 and I was praying she'd be just a teeny bit late so she could be an April baby. Just because that sounds more "officially spring" to me.

My girl had other plans though. We'll be celebrating her 5th birthday on the 28th this month. Spring arrives on the 20th. In the end, I was right all along. She is my spring baby. But just to supress the doubters, my pregnant self took a picture of the crocus blooming on the side of our house. If they're up, it has to be spring right?

My girl came running into the house this past weekend calling out about the pretty purple flowers she found outside. Handyman Tim remembered just what they mean to me and sent her to find me. I couldn't resist capturing them for my sweet birthday girl.

Little Pea's First Snow

This has been one crazy winter! I would never have guessed it would take until MARCH before I'd finally be able to take Little Pea out to play in the snow for the very first time. The few bits of snow we've had either haven't been enough for playing in or the weather has been too cold to take her out. 

We were hit with just about 2-3 inches of snow last night and it whirled around like a snowglobe. This morning, both girls were just dying to go out and enjoy the snow. I knew this might be my  last chance to get a photo of Little Pea experiencing this part of winter until next year so we all bundled up and headed out.

If you'd like to see more photos from our "adventure" head on over to Develop and check out my collage. I love the shots of the girls in the sled.

Little Pea had mixed emotions about the white stuff. After her initial thrill wore off, she was more than happy to come back inside for homemade cookies. It was hysterical watching her carefully step through the crunch of the wet snow. 

I can't say I disagree with her conclusion. I've captured my winter photo op. We're ready for spring now, thank you very much!

Doing something different for Leap Day

Today is Leap Day and I just can't let it pass us by without posting. I don't know why, but I feel the need to mark today as special somehow! In honor of a day I feel we should be doing something different and unique, I wanted to share this photo I took over the weekend of the Peanut. 

There's a big story behind this photo that I want to share soon but I have to collect my thoughts to do it justice. The big point behind it though, is a decision to be more intentional with our choices and with our lives. In fact, "Intentional" is the word of the month for March over on Develop's Monthly Inspiration Challenges. 

This crazy dino is a big favorite of my girls. We've seen him 4 times in the last month on our trips back and forth to visit Handyman Tim at his project site. They beg me to stop for gas at this one particular stop along the way and the Peanut was Beyond Thrilled that she got to have her picture taken with him.

This kind of crazy kid joy needs to be documented and I love her big smiley face, even if it is small in relation to the photo. I see this image and I can instantly remember how she skipped back to the car after we were done and how both girls waved and called out "'Bye Bye, Saur!" followed by a chorus of "Roar!!" from the backseat.

So happy Leap Year Day to you. Are you doing something different today?

Carrying on for my cuties

We're still here, believe it or not. How has it been 2+ weeks with no word from me? Oh my, I've really been going through a blogger's indentity crisis since January. Handyman Tim's project continue to drag on and I find all my energy being sapped as I take care of the two peanuts. I do miss regularly posting here though and I'm really hoping to remedy the situation.

February has been oddly really rough. We are missing Tim most thoroughly because his birthday falls on the 9th and then Valentine's so shortly after. Sadly, we could not be together for either holiday this year. It really took a lot of my normal "oomph" out of these fun mid-winter festivities. We came "this" close to not celebrating Valentine's at all if I'm truly honest.

But look at those sweet faces? While my big manly valentine may have been out of town, I obviously have two other sweethearts to celebrate for and with. So, in a final burst of inspiration I pulled it together and we had a very sweet little evening party.

I got the table set and ready to go during nap/quiet time:

Dinner was kept super simple: noodles with tomato sauce. And <gasp> they weren't even heart shaped! My ladies didn't mind though.

Their gift bags were filled with new matching dresses (possibly for Easter) and coordinating pink canvas shoes and some sweet Valentine books. True to nature, the Peanut was most intrigued by a new coloring book. In stark contrast Little Pea INSISTED on putting on her new dress OVER her Valentine's outfit! Along with the new shoes. She cried and cried when I had to take the dress off before tomato sauce dinner threatened some splatters.

I'm so glad I didn't let this little holiday pass us by this year. It would have been such an easy thing to do and I would have really regretted it.

How did your Valentine's Day go? Do you make a show of things or am I the only nutty one who carries on with our without the husband home?

Finding my sanity

The Peanut likes to play "Detective." She comes to me with a notepad and marker and says, "So, what's the trouble? I heard you lost something and you need me to find it."

So on one particularly busy evening, I told her, "I've lost my sanity."

"Ok, ma'am. What does your sanity look like?"

I chuckle. "It's . . . round. And . . . fluffy. With. . . purple spikes on it." before turning back to the casserole I'm prepping.

And lo and behold, look what she finds!

"Mommy!! I FOUND it! Here's your sanity." 

So the puff ball is blue and not purple. I say close enough. Like any good mother, I squealed with joy and promptly placed "my sanity" on the fireplace mantle so I don't lose it again.

And there it sits now in it's place of honor. This is one childhood treasure I am hanging onto for sure.

It's about time

My Little Pea is officially 18 months old now. Would someone please tell me who snuck in and replaced my baby with this little girl? 

18 months. I guess that means I should start her baby book, huh? I'm a bit behind haven't even started. 

Stress is a very crazy thing. For the first 6 months of my baby girl's life, I was nearly consumed with worry about my health (from a complication with delivery.) I distinctly remember telling a friend my plan for Little Pea's baby book so that someone would be able to find my notes and put it together if something drastic happened to me before I got to working on it myself. 

Then I was given the "all clear" by my doctor. The stress vanished and so did the worry about finishing the project. Fast forward to 18 months old and I haven't even printed a single photo! 

So this week, I'm wading through 2 years of photos to put together the story of Little Pea's joining our family. Seeing some of my older images that have been hidden in my library for far too long brought many happy smiles and memories. I thought it would make me sad to see the baby that seems to have disappeared overnight, but it only made me feel warm and fuzzy about how far we've both come in so short a time.

I'm ordering prints for the first time in what feels like forever. I cannot wait to see the bundle arrive and I'm even more excited to finally write down the random scrap notes I've saved into her official book. And I know that top of my thankful list this Thanksgiving is going to be extreme gratitude that I'm the one to be working on this project this year. Sometimes it's the little things that remind us to be grateful about the big things.

A sentimental reshoot of a classic image

I've been taking my babies to the Chicago Botanic Gardens since the Peanut was truly just a little peanut. It is my absolute favorite place to take the girls for photographs but more importantly, it is my happy place. I could stroll the gardens every single day and be a much happier person for it.

I have a classic photo of the Peanut walking in that same spot shown above when she was just Little Pea's age. It is printed and large in our home for display every fall:

This year, I felt Little Pea's absence in the photo and wanted to take a "Round 2" photo. It's much crazier trying to capture both of them together, but I do love how it turned out. It doesn't replace the original, but I love the pair of images together. 

It just reminds me how timing is everything though. The most recent image was taken later in the afternoon with harsher lighting and earlier in the season with greener leaves. I was worried I'd wait too long and all the leaves would drop and I'd miss my chance. I probably should have waited another week or so. If we get a sunny day, I may try again if schedule allows. But if not, I have my try safe and sound. I love how the Peanut is leading Little Pea on a run. 

I'm sharing this pair of images today to remind everyone that your point and shoot can take fantastic shots. The original, which is a far stronger image in my opinion, was taken on my old point and shoot. It has a wider angle lens than what I had on my DSLR and I managed to find fantastic lighting and a perfect scene. 

It really doesn't require crazy equipment to capture an image you'll cherish.

Thank you for thinking different

When I heard of Steve's passing late last night, I was not terribly surprised at the news. I was, however, very surprised by how sad I felt about it. When a friend shared this photo capture from the Apple web site, I clicked through to their homepage and tears sprang to my eyes. 

What an amazing impact this man has had on my life. While most people are going to be talking today about how he changed the world, I'm wondering how many out there can be honest enough with themselves to understand how he has changed them personally. Steve Jobs and his Apple history may be somewhat controversial, but the beauty, simplicity, and amazing usefulness of his products cannot be argued. 

I'm typing this up on my iMac. The same iMac that Handyman Tim gave to me as a present when I had the Peanut. The gift that meant a million times more to me than any piece of jewelry every could. It is on this computer that I have learned how to improve my photography to the point of being able to sell stock, challenged my writinging skills to go from simple emails to a full blog, discovered the instructions for making countless recipes and crafts, and most importantly store and edit and share the images and memories from my family's lives.

Could I have done all of that on a PC? Honestly, no. Not like I have, not even close. Working on a Mac for so many years (I've owned them exclusively since college) gave me the courage to try new things. Their software is so brilliantly simple. Picking up a new skill took one session of poking the buttons. Edit a photo, turn it into a slideshow, edit some video, add some music, create a postcard or an invitation, lay out a scrapbook page, a little project here, a little project there and my confidence was built. "Well that was easy, what's next?!" Without that growth of confidence, I honestly do not think I'd be as courageously trying new things as I am today.

From little projects to much bigger ones, I've done it all on my Macs. But that's Apple. What about Steve the man himself? That is the part that stings too much to think about. My whole family adored him. We've watched his keynote addresses online and followed all his announcements and introductions. His excitement and passion was absolutely contagious. I still remember vividly the day my dad sent me a copy of Steve's famous commencement speech. If you haven't read it (or watched the video) you won't regret the time spent reading it here. 

Every Apple success felt like watching the underdog win. We cheered Steve on and celebrated every victory. We are smug and cocky Apple fanatics. Our products are cooler than yours and it is all because of Steve. And I promise that at least this family will not soon forget it.

Thank you for thinking different, Steve. It truly has made a world of difference.

Peanut in the Big City

Do you want to know the ultimate gift for a 4 year old's birthday?

A little hint: it doesn't come with a bow on it.

Answer: An adventure.

When my sister asked what to give the Peanut for her birthday back in March, we thought long and hard whether now was the right time for {drumroll, please} her Very First Musical.

You see, Molly and I are what you might call Musical Fanatics. As in, see the show. Twice. Buy the cd & listen to it on repeat until you know every single word to Les Miz, Wicked, Rent, Starlight Express, Phantom, Joseph, Grease, Godspell, Evita, etc. etc. etc. We LOVE the theater. Love it.

Molly was cool enough to actually work at First Stage Children's Theater for a while. Of course that had to be back before I had the peanuts. Thankfully she keeps tabs on their schedule and she knew right away that Seussical the Musical would be the perfect introduction for the Peanut to the crazy little obsessive world of musical theater that we adore.

An introduction like this can't just be "go to the show and go home," it had to be an event. And what an event it was:

There was lunch in a restaurant where peanuts fly out of rocketships. Really.

And a feast of "hamyburgers" and french fries with peanut shells all over the floor. And rootbeer!

And chairs made for the giants that must live in this Big City.

And cupcakes as big as your head!

And tractor rides through big empty corporate offices. (The Peanut is now convinced that ad agency execs get to play with toys, ride tractors and skateboards, and watch tv all day. We're going to have to deprogram that thought right out of her head! Mommas, don't let your babies grow up to be account execs. . . )

And more goofy faces and dragon roars and squeals of delight than I can even count.

And after all of that. Seriously, ALL of that, when asked what her very favorite part of the day was?

"Seeing the play. And spending time with Auntie Moe Moe."

Score. Mission accomplished.

And Seussical? Molly was right. She warned me I'd cry. I brushed her off, fool that I am. It was sweet, if perhaps a bit too conceptual for the Peanut. The costumes were amazing, the colors so bright, the music so well done. I would definitely recommend the experience if you're anywhere near Milwaukee before October 16. It was truly the perfect introduction I had hoped for.

And I think I know what the standard birthday gift from Auntie is going to be from now on.

A perfect snack for a not so perfect day

The Peanut had a rough day at school yesterday morning. I can't believe that happens in pre-school, but it does. Her feelings were hurt more than anything, but she obviously needed a little extra lovin'.

I spent the afternoon sorting summer/fall clothing for both girls and had a rough time retiring the last of the true "baby" clothes for Little Pea. I can't believe how big she's getting and seeing the new bin of hand-me-downs she is supposed to wear in the coming months took my breath away. Wasn't the Peanut JUST wearing that shirt last year? Nope. Time is truly flying.

So not that I condone emotional eating for any of us, but it was just "that kind" of day where a batch of homemade cookies was required. Since we went from 80 degrees to 45 degrees outside in exactly one evening, a nice hearty peanut butter cookie sounded just about perfect. 

Did you know that I never buy store bought cookies? Other than the extremely rare package of Oreos used for cookie crusts, I honestly don't remember the last package of cookies I purchased. With so many amazing cookie recipes out there, I just can't handle the thought of little dry crusty preservative-filled cookies.

I also have a major problem with self-control around snacky foods. My solution has just been to not have them in the house. If I want a cookie, I have to make it! So it usually takes a special occasion (or a really bad day like yesterday) to warrant the effort. 

It's been a while since I've tried a new cookie recipe. I found this one for Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies over at Brown Eyed Baker. I'm not sharing the full recipe here because I made no adjustments whatsoever.

My only note of warning is that you want to be sure to flatten your cookies just a smidge--they do not flatten and spread in the oven as I assumed they would. Mine came out nearly perfect little mounds and were raw in the center. I also added an extra 3 minutes of baking time and they were still a bit underdone. Take that for what it's worth.

Underdone or not, you're looking at photos of what was the perfect snack for a not so perfect day. What sets you in the mood to bake?

By the sword of Thor!

So my mother-in-law in her infinite wisdom decided to send the Peanut a set of Nerf swords (one for her, one for daddy) and a helmet of Thor. How does she know exactly what my girls will get most excited about?? And guess who insisted on stealing the newfound toys?

Daddy is tickled pink. 

Mommy is going shopping for a fairy princess tiara and tutu. Stat.

Beat the heat, buy a bike

It is too hot to even think. I don't want to cook, I don't want to be outside, I just want to crank up the air conditioning and curl up with a book. But you see, I have these two little peanuts that just won't let me and my new copy of "Game of Thrones" be. So we push on.

I feel like my inspiration has withered right along with my garden. I don't handle extreme temperatures very well at all. I know when it cools down and school starts up again, I'll perk right back up. Till then, I am making do the best I can. August is going to be a very looooong month.

But in happier news, the Peanut has her first real big girl bike. Handyman Tim brought it home the other night. God Bless him and his willingness to chase her around the neighborhood with this bloody heat. They both came back drenched in sweat. I haven't ever seen her so dirty and so happy all at the same time. 

The look on her face in the picture above says it all. That, my friends, is a girl with a mission. I see that look on her face and I get the impression that we're the ones holding her back. We better look out, our girl is mobile.